#/& houses here are built to keep in the heat xd

[mjm5655]

❝ it's fuckin' roastin' n' humid as fuck here in tokyo, it's 'bout time y'all just strip, n' put on factor fifty sunblock. ❞

[slashingdisneypasta]

I need more Norman Nordstrom. That man is fine asf. I’ll gladly give him a baby as long as he keeps breeding me🫢🫠

Anon you caught me at the exact right moment XD I'm cold and I required something to warm me up XD

I'm warm now.

~

Norman Nordstrom x AFAB!SelfProclaimedSlut!Reader || Drabble

Plot: A sneak peak into a confirmed sluts regular hook up with the lonely old man down the street.

Warnings: Unprotected Smut. Use of 'Mr Nordstrom' rather then Norman. Creampie. And breeding (Its Norman, what do you expect). Unedited.

You always love visiting Mr Nordstrom down the street. His place was private without the stresses of your family, or work. Whenever you were there it almost felt like you were in your own little world with the old man, and no one else could get into it. Mr Nordstrom himself, was... always quiet. But you knew he liked the company; he didn't say it but you could tell. The more you came to visit, the more demanding he became of your presence.

Its cold outside these days but in here, hidden away in Mr Nordstrom's warm house on his cosy old couch by the crackling wood fire, you feel comfortable and toasty. Even the tips of your toes. Even the tips of your ears.

You're so lovely and warm now, you don't mind him taking off your pants all the way and dropping them to the floor.

With a grunt, he sinks himself all the way into you and you feel all your problems really drift away.

Sighing, you sink back into the worn cushions and take the dirty fucking with lazy pleasure. The greedy plunging thrusts, the slightly-too-big cock filling you up and stretching you out, anticipating the real fill later on- he never wears a condom; Mr Nordstrom.

You always loved visiting Mr Nordstrom- especially since the first time you let the lonely, hot old man hit it. At first it was out of pity, you considered it a good deed (A sluts job is never done (; XD Some may call you immoral- but you do nothing but good deeds! Thats what you do.), but then he fucked you so good you couldn't stop thinking about it, even at work (His hard thrusts, his larger then average size, the surprising stamina for a man his age, and the way he played skillfully with your clit when he was good and ready to cum- taking you over the edge right with him right when he wanted to), and you had to come back. This time, you begged him.

Now Mr Nordstrom is a very regular hook up of yours. Coming here, having a glass of wine with the old timer and then touching him was one of your favourite things to do. Especially when he felt like touching you back.

Like tonight- he was all over you from the moment you got in. You barely made it of the snow and through the door before he had you pinned to the wall with his mouth attached to yours; sucking your tongue into his mouth and feeling up your sides with his large hands. Hands you knew had killed. He was real pent up... but you made him wait. I'm cold, you said with a teasing smirk he could hear in your voice. Lemme warm up first and then we can get started, okay?

He had grumbled, but lead you to the living room where he had a fire already built (explaining how he could be in just a pair of grey sweatpants.) and the touch of the heat immediately made you sigh as you settled on the couch and asked him how his day had gone.

Frustrating. He complained, sitting down in his arm chair, that throaty voice of his and the sight of his clear outline in those tin sweatpants lighting you up inside. There was also a wet patch, so you were able to figure just how frustrating it had been.

You were frustrated from work all day... he was clearly frustrated from trying to jerk off all day and coming up 0 for 0.

Now he proves how badly he needed your hot cunt today, holding himself above you and pounding his hips into yours over and over; driving your ass into the couch and slipping a big killing hand up your shirt and squeezing a tit hard. When you give in fully, wrapping your legs around his hips so he can drive in deeper, grind himself directly into your sloppy, slutty wet cunt, he gives a growl of approval. His mouth finds its way up from your collar bone, over the curve of your throat, and to your lips. Kissing you deeply again, like the dirty old soldier has never wanted anyone so badly.

The hand thats not under your shirt, eagerly taking turns rubbing and squeezing each of your pretty tits, trails down your leg to hook under your knee and unwraps it from his hip; guiding it upwards towards the ceiling. Now he he hammers your cunt, his cock absolutely covered in wetness and a squelching sound clear in the air coming from you every time he cracks his hips into you.

And you can just take it; lay there and accept the nasty dicking down you're getting for your Friday night. You love it.

When you can no longer kiss for needing to breath, you can hear Norman panting above you and you crack your eyes open to watch him. Smirk. Tell him you're *pant* *pant* cute.

Another growl comes straight out of his throat and he shakes his head, before the hand that was holding your leg up grazes back down your calf and your thighs straight for your pussy. And- god- as soon as he starts to fiddle with your clit; rolling his fingers around it slowly at first but picking up in speed, you cant help how your back arches into him.

Finally Mr Nordstrom buries himself into your used hole one final time and releases his seed as deep inside you as he can.

You always loved visiting Mr Nordstrom.

[blackjackkent]

Aight, time for some Thanksgiving Baldur's Gate bc all I am doing is hanging about the house. :D

We left off having finally made it to relative safety in the Last Light Inn and there are a number of things we need to do here (particularly having a drink with Jaheira), but the first priority before everything else is:

I think we can finally get Karlach's quest moving. The tiefling refugees (what's left of them) are definitely here, so before we do anything else, I want to go find the mechanic and see if he can do something for her engine. Because Hector is, let's be honest, definitely kinda falling for her and we need to open her dialogue tree up. XD

And there he is!

Hanging out in the stables with a forge and several oxen.

This guy, Dammon, is such a good dude tbh - and apparently Karlach knows him!

"The weaponsmith, right? Drafted into the Blood War when your city was swallowed by Avernus. Not too different from my own story. Well done making it out alive!"

Dammon recognizes immediately that she had an infernal engine and that it's busted; he has a listen and already has some ideas. He mentions needing infernal iron, and Karlach gets all excited at once.

"Hey, Soldier - we've got some infernal iron already! Let's give it to him, hey?"

Hector, of course, gives it to him eagerly - he's as invested in this as Karlach is, almost.

A bit of a letdown on the animation here to be honest. Dammon hammered on the iron for a bit and then told her she'd have to install it, and there was a shot of Karlach, from behind, fiddling with something in her chest area, and then she was done. Feels a bit handwavy tbh.

On the bright side...she's thrilled with the progress and gets all smiley!

"That feels...good! I'm still burning hot as Hell's hole, but I feel less...changeable. Cheers, mate!"

"Pleasure. As for the heat, I haven't got any solutions now, but I"m not giving up. Could be if the combustion chamber had its own insulation, or if we had some kind of enchanted coolant... Let me sleep on it. I just might be able to work something out. Hopefully the next time I see you, I'll have something promising to report. I'll need more infernal iron either way, though, so keep your eyes open."

Perfect. We'll do the other stuff in Last Light and then take a long rest and come back and talk to him again and decide where to go from there. (I might cheat and find out where more infernal iron is because I am a weak woman ultimately. :P )

Obviously we talk to Karlach again after...

"Dammon's upgrade didn't cool me down, but it did juice me up! I don't think I've ever felt more powerful."

It's obvious, just from looking at her, how much better she feels. He can see the energy coursing through her, a brighter light in her eyes. She's ready to fight, ready to move, ready to do anything.

He is happy for her. Of course he is. This is safety; she's no longer in danger of the thing spiraling out of control.

And yet...without realizing it, he had built this moment up in his mind; they would find the infernal mechanic, and then Karlach would be healed. The heat would fade, and perhaps he could...put a hand on hers in a difficult moment, touch her shoulder for encouragement...hold her...be held by her...

The thoughts have been percolating for some time, unacknowledged, and suddenly are surging to the forefront, unable to be ignored any longer. She has been his comfort in these awful frontiers. For a man who has spent his life in secluded study, these are feelings he does not quite know yet how to process...but they are inescapable.

And the words slip from him, longing, bewildered, before he knows he is going to say them.

"I still can't touch you, though..."

Her head draws back, surprised - and then a slight smile tugs the corners of her mouth. "Do you want to?" she asks.

He feels his own all-too-human heart start to thump with a power to rival the engine's. His throat suddenly feels slightly too tight. "Of course I do..." he says softly.

He wishes he wasn't so acutely aware of Gale and Shadowheart standing nearby. Gale has turned and begun studying the wall of the stable with academic interest, but Shadowheart is watching this play out with an unreadable expression.

He isn't sure what he expects. Some dramatic declaration of feelings he doesn't have words for, perhaps. But Karlach's smile just deepens, and she tips her head to one side. "I'd like that," she says. Her eyes flick across him from feet to head, then lock back on his gaze, burning like infernal embers. "Now...let's find that infernal iron, before I overheat."

[erisxdrifter]

Story

Part 3

Eris and Drifter are raising Luna. Luna is being a naughty child and keeps playing in Eris' artifacts

Note: Luna is now 4 years old.

Thank you so much for the request, it was really fun to write hehe! I would also like to mention... I put the name of this story down as 'spaghettios', lol XD

"Luna!" The Drifter called as he walked down the hallway, peeking into each room as he passed by. "Luna! Ugh, how does she keep sneakin' away?" He grumbled as he glanced into another room.

  He had a sinking suspicion he knew where Luna had snuck off to as he approached the slighly open door which led to Eris's work room, the room they had included into the house when they built it so that Eris could do her work from home and watch their child on days when the Drifter had to run his Gambit at the Tower.

  "Hey, Eris?" The Drifter said, knocking two fingers against the wooden door. "You seen Luna?"

  He pushed the door open, and to his relief, there was little Luna. She was attempting to reach up on the desk for Eris's Ahamkara bone, but Eris pushed it further from her reach before she could grab it.

  "How is it that you continually lose her, Rat?" Eris asked teasingly. "You can not keep up with a small child?"

  "Heh," the Drifter chuckled as he entered the room. "It ain't my fault, she's just-"

  "Excuses, excuses." Eris interrupted with an amused smile. "Take her, she keeps trying to play in my artifacts. And don't lose her again."

  "I won't," he replied, taking Luna's little hand in his own. "C'mon, Luna, let's go eat lunch."

  "Lunch!" Luna agreed, no longer focusing on Eris's Ahamkara rock, she followed the Drifter out of the room and to the kitchen, sitting down at the kitchen table.

  "Alright Luna, Mac 'n cheese? Or spaghettios?" Asked the Drifter, putting both cans of food up to Luna and watching her as she looked back and forth between her options with a serious and contemplative expression.

  "Mac cheese," she replied in her high voice, leaning forward and putting her small hand on the can of Chef Boyardee Mac 'n cheese.

  "Alright, Mac 'n cheese it is." He said, grabbing a pot which hung on the wall and smoothly sliding it atop the stove. He then proceeded to open the can and empty the contents into the pot.

  "Alright, Luna, that'll take a minute to heat up. You want some juice?" He asked as he reached into the fridge, grabbing a box of apple juice. But when he turned to give it to Luna, she was gone. "Do what?" The Drifter stared, appalled, at the empty seat. He began to search under the table and chairs, calling Luna's name and wondering to himself how she managed to escape again.

  He cursed under his breath, getting to his feet and hurrying down the hall, hoping Luna wasn't already in Eris's work space.

  "Hey, Eris," he peeked in the room. "Luna ain't in here is-"

  "No, Luna, give that here," Eris spoke gently but firmly, kneeling on the floor with her hand outstretched.

  Luna was laughing and giggling, Eris's Ahamkara rock in her little arms.

  "I like big marble," she said, hugging it to herself. "Is mine."

  "Luna. Here."

  Luna turned to Eris, looking down at the rock then back up at her. After a moment she obediently dropped the rock into Eris's waiting hands.

  "Good girl, Luna, thank you." She said as she put it back on her desk. She looked over at the Drifter who was walking into the room. "You lost her again." She remarked simply.

  He sighed. "Yeah... didn't hear her leave or anything."

  "If you lose her again, Germaine, you will be eating nothing but spaghettios for the rest of your life."

  "I like spaghettios!" Luna interjected squeakily.

  "Eh, I'm with the kid, spaghettios ain't so bad, Moondust." He chuckled, taking Luna's hand and guiding her away. "Maybe I'll cook us all some for dinner tonight, huh? Wouldn't that be good, Luna?"

  "Germaine, wait," Eris called before he had made it out the door.

  "Aw, you miss me already, Moonlight?" He turned back to her, smiling broadly.

  "No, but look what our daughter has managed to get a hold of as we were speaking,"

  "Oh, Luna," Drifter groaned, looking down and seeing two cards from the Deck of Whispers in her little hands. "You can't have that, give it to your mama,"

  "Is mine," Luna said, frowning with confusion when Eris took them. "I like cards."

  "You got plenty of toys out here, Luna, c'mon." Drifter took her back to the kitchen, handing her a plush Hive worm half as big as her when she sat down. She happily hugged the worm and began playing with it while the Drifter went to check on her food.

  "Alright, kiddo, the noodles are hot so we're gonna have to let 'em cool down." He said as he set the pot on a hot plate atop the counter, stirring the steaming noodles with a wood spoon. "You excited for noodles, Luna?" He smiled back at her, thankful she was still in her chair.

  "Noodles! Noodles!" Luna replied in her high, happy voice, throwing her worm plush in the air and catching it.

  "Noodles, noodles, noodles," the Drifter countinued to chant, pulling out a plastic bowl and fork.

  He poured the noodles into the bowl, eating the remaining few that clung to the pot.

  "And here you are, kiddo," he slid the warm bowl of Mac 'n cheese in front of her, leaning down to plant a quick kiss on top of her head before turning back to the stove.

  He listened to the sounds of Luna happily humming as she ate her lunch while he opened a can of spaghettios, pouring the contents into the Mac 'n cheese pot and putting it back on the oven.

  Suddenly the Drifter's Ghost appeared, letting out a chirp as it zoomed over to Luna, catching her bowl of food just before it would have hit the floor.

  "Woah, that's a no no, Luna" the Drifter said as the Ghost slid the bowl back in front of her. "Thanks, Ghost. Good catch."

  Luna made a noise which sounded a lot like 'thanks, Ghost', as she countinued eating her cheesy noodles.

  The Ghost let out a happy beep, soaring over to the Drifter and brushing it's shell against his elbow before dissappearing in a shower of sparks just as Eris entered the kitchen. She gave the Drifter an odd look, approaching the table beside them and whatching him as he sat down and began eating the spaghettios.

  "What's with that look?" The Drifter asked through a mouthful of floppy circle noodles.

  "I should not be surprised, given your history of foods consumed, but regardless I did not expect to walk in on you eating spaghettios."

  "What's wrong with me eatin' spaghettios?" He asked, taking another bite as Luna said, "I like spaghettios."

  "It happens to be food for you daughter, not for you." She smiled teasingly down at him before looking over at Luna, who was happily enjoying her noodles.

  "I'll just buy more!" The Drifter replied, gobbling more of his food. "It's not my fault spaghettios are delicious."

  "Uh-huh."

  "Here, have a bite." He offered her his bowl of food, which she reluctantly took.

  "Hmm..." she ate a bite, then handed the bowl back to him.

  "Well?" He asked as he took another mouthful.

  "It is... okay." She replied. "Though I would prefer the meals that you cook far over a can of pre-made foods."

  "Alright, fair enough." He scraped up the last of the floppy noodles from his bowl, preparing to eat them until he saw that Luna was once again not in her chair. "Hey, where'd Luna go?" He asked, setting his bowl down.

  "What?" Eris looked over at Luna's empty chair. "How did we not see her leave?"

  "Exactly!" The Drifter stood. "She keeps dissappearin'!"

  "I suspect I may know where she went," Eris said, guiding them down the hall.

  When they entered Eris's study room, they, unsurprisingly, found Luna. She was sitting on the floor, happily playing with a Hive bone like it was a toy airplane.

  "I do not recall leaving that on the floor." Eris frowned, grabbing the bone from her daughter's hands while the Drifter bent to pick her up.

  "Luna, you sneaky girl," he said as he nuzzled his nose against her cheek, causing her to laugh.

  "I suppose she inherited that sneakiness from you, Germaine." Eris replied, standing beside him.

  "Nah, nah, I think she got it from you." He smirked.

  "I wanna play with the airplane," Luna added.

  Eris smiled. "I will have to be more careful about closing this door, so that she can not continue to play in my artifacts."

  "Heh, yeah... sneaky kid." The Drifter chuckled, hoisting Luna up onto his shoulders. "C'mon, let's go eat some spaghettios."

  Luna voiced her agreement with a wide smile. "Spaghettios!"

[knowlessman]

holy shit I fell off this for a long time. uh, bnha s6e16-20

hawks origin stuff ig? dang, every backstory in this show really does revolve around all might -- ah k, hawks's more revolves around endeavor ig

…idfk, hey look it's the fuckin batmobile. honestly at this point it shouldn't make me bat (haha) an eye

-- …okay so. they did a Feign Death thing on Jeanist to convince dabi. and they LET DABI HAVE THE BODY. and somehow they still project lazarus'd jeanist "in secret." …whuh?

"I'm here to talk about our family." well. this gon b heavy -- huh. he got resistance to cold but not heat; he got the wrong required secondary power. …wait, "gene editing…" is shoto a GMO '''XD I mean technically they all are cuz quirk marriage is literally eugenics but -- "I'm telling you [natsu] because only you get it, the women in this house are worthless" wowwwww dabi has misogyny? or at least he hella did as a kid

"I know eavesdropping is illegal denim…" jeanist I don't think you were that high on my tierlist to begin with but you're not really putting yourself on an upward trend here

okay hawks the sheer extent, the mind-boggling extremity, of how much this is not your business -- "but there's still one thing we don't understand. One for All, what is that?" ohoh

"Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight, are you alright?" okay that bit is still funny tho

"before you wake up, we need to talk." hm. two of the previous Avatars are Blair Witching for some reason

oh yeah, whatserface, Tomura's grandmother. …huh. well that's gotta be awkward, now she knows about tomura. I guess maybe the yellow glow is the placeholder for when Toshinori dies? -- "we only found out [mr danger sense's cause of death] after Yagi's investigation" okay so yellow ghost is another avatar nvm -- …facepalm yagi toshinori. I was right the first time. fucking dammit

"aang, you might have to kill fire lord ozai" okay idk if I'd say she looks much like kyoshi, but she doesn't not give off similar vibes, at least here

…oh, her cape is white. not yellow. the connection I was tryna make last time makes no sense 'XD

"had twice activated his quirk, the damage would have been even worse" yeah it's like real fucked in that way tbh. either shigaraki or gigantomachia, on their own, on a whim, can account for near-dragonball levels of destruction and loss of life, and we don't know by how large a factor Twice can multiply that but we do know that he can make it worse. the Re-Destro trap is proof of that. -- I keep thinking of when they were trying to put 'machia in a cage and one of the guards idly mentioned "he is technically still a human, so it's illegal to shoot missiles at him." like, superpowers as a thing at all make things so fucked up; your average basic human can't even really handle having vague influence over too many other people all that well, never mind built-in weapons that can kill a person and can't be dropped or disarmed, never mind built-in weapons that can wreak destruction on grand scales and can't be dropped or disarmed or contained. Really investigating the concept gets you, well, here.

Purple Ha - eh, smoke? huh, looks like it's En's power.

"thanks for getting me the gauntlet from the US before trade shut down" GAUNTLET??? IS IT MELISSA'S. DID THEY FINALLY ACKNOWLEDGE THE FUCKING GAUNTLET THAT HE SHOULD HAVE FUCKING HAD SEVERAL SEASONS AGO

"is midoriya there?" "I must go" hehe. his danger sense can sense annoying phone calls.

"I can't go back to U.A." deku's poor mom signed up for exactly 0.000% of any of this bullshit 'XD like how the fuck do you parent when 80% of kids are born with guns in their arms and like a third of them are born with nukes

don't mind me, just…

"but you couldn't beat him" "I'll get stronger" 0.00000000000000000000000000000000% of any of this bullshit

"the way he holds the phone is so cool" hawks I'm afraid I must inform you that in point of fact jeanist looks like a fucking idiot. I bet he's cheating by using his power to hold his arms up so they don't get tired

we're almost in the last fifth of the season; my faith that we're gonna find out who that purple-haired chick in the intro is at some point is starting to fade just a tad. I know I remember seeing her during the breakout, but she hasn't shown up since

hm. the two wall-facing avatars what look like they wandered in outta naruto are joining up. the full loadout's coming together.

deku's phone got shot by a purple dart. aha, about time…

she's hanging out with overhaul. huh. wonder where he's at these days. doesn't seem up to much. gonna be honest, I don't fully remember what his motive was, beyond profiting off of eri's quirk.

"consider this a down payment" hmmmm. yup, should be interesting. in theory, last five eps in a row, next time

[blufox234isadumbname]

dream (XD, maybe?) visits fundy in his dreams. it's the only thing making them bearable, and keeping him sane

:)

Nobody [inspired by a mitski song]

Many make mistakes, Fundy was one of them. He just wanted to make sure Yoghurt was safe that night, what with more mobs emerging from the south. He just wanted to tuck his kid and make sure he slept better than him. With kiddish purrs becoming white noise, he should've stopped himself when he felt his lids flutter, when his bed dipped and he saw the house go black.

The fox-hybrid opened his eyes, already letting the horror sink in before opening the damn door. It was all over again, he thought he was getting better. No. He was a fool, still a foolish fox. Yoghurt was no longer by his side, and he already started to feel sweltering heat entering the home. Fundy's heart already ached, already sore. His breaths were heavy, weighted over him as he laid in the dreaded empty bed. Tears were beginning to form but he blinked and rubbed them harshly away. Just close your eyes, he thought. But he knew better, wishes could never be reality. He just wanted it to be over, so he had to do it himself. Fundy always had to do everything himself anyways, this was no different.

He got up and readjusted his black breton cap. Steady and stalwart, steps crept towards and stopped in front of the door. Twisting the knob, a final breath was heaved before the same scenery greeted the displeasured fox. He became familiar with the barren land, covered by only hot dry sand and tall cacti. The winds seemed to be strong that dream, dust clouds were choking the poor dreamer. He closed the door behind him, noticing his red tail hung low. First thing was first, he left the area of his house to find anything out of place. It was instinct to try and spot something that stuck out like a sore thumb, besides his little spruce wood cottage.

Fundy sank his naked feet into the sand, burning his padded paws. He trudged along in a random direction, which was wherever the barest clouds were drifting opposite from. That's all he did for a couple of minutes, maybe more than half an hour to him. Prime, he hated how the sun was bright, how the sunshine was a glaring spot above him. He hated to stare at the dull sky for any second longer. He hated winds dusting the sand into his eyes. All of it was n eyesore, metaphorically and litterally.

He just continued onward, awaiting any subtle and not-so-subtle ghostly remnants of his history coming back to haunt. To be reminded of why his life sucked, that was surely fun, right? He wanted a break, a detour from the disaster that was him. For not the first time, he wanted to be elsewhere. Not just in the dream but in reality. Yes, Las Nevadas was the haven he wanted it to be. But that came with the cost of having his dreadfully undead father closer to him. As if he wanted a chance to be mocked and haunted. Even more so, Tubbo and Ranboo causing a commotion with Quackity already had set him at unease. Threats towards a nation he called a home, a lovely return to the cycle. Like dirty water from the sea to acid rain in the clouds, it's become the same horrid cycle.

Speaking of clouds, the fox-hybrid looked up. The smallest gathering of clouds became a crowd of them all across a brighter baby blue canvas. The yucky yellow sand turned a grassier green. If he squinted, he could maybe see the blooms of other than cactus flowers. Finally, a reason for the feet under him to pick up their pace. Fundy kept running towards the green, faster and faster as he could taste them with his fingers. As soon as he was near enough, he dived right into the fresh field. A little mistake, per usual, as he began rolling down a knoll all of a sudden. Through the short wild grass into a taller field of lavender and peonies, the fox finally took a deep breath. A clean and relaxed breath-

"Hello, Fundy."

- before it hitched.

Fundy lifted his head up above the flowers to spot a cleared spot. In the patch of cornflowers and poppies, a naked area of just grass lay, with a figure. He knew it well, with the dirty blonde hair - though he never remembered it being at scruffy and shoulder length - and deadly smile-painted mask adorned. In a lime, white and black letterman jacket over a starkingly orange jumpsuit. He knew that man well, even by the soft humming. The blank eyes of the mask and the man behind to stared at the fox-hybrid. If it weren't a nightmare yet, Fundy figured it just started.

"How are you here?" The hoodied man asked

"Don't...don't even talk to me..." The overcoated fox snarled with teeth bared and tail puffed.

Dream huffed, toying with something in his hands.

"I just asked. The dreamscape is not normally so free reign. For you, you're the least I expected to be able to cross barriers of mind."

"What the fuck are you talking about. Why are you here? What, to haunt me? To mock me? To tell me I'm useless?"

"...To make flower crowns"

He held up said piece of rope strung with flower blooms. His was a cornflower and daisy crown.

"That...that's it?"

"Can you control your dreams?"

"That...it's none of your business, Dream."

"I'm assuming no. But you are willingly seeing me. So in that case, I suppose I can tell you. You know I was imprisoned, in that big ol' prison? Anyway, a being gave me a wish, or rather a gift. I could control my own dreams, I could lucid dream whenever I wanted to. So I could stay in prison while still feeling the grassy field. So I'm here."

"You don't...get nightmares? NOS Cary reminders of your past? Nothing scary?" *And while I do?*, Fundy doesn't add on. Dream pauses for a break. before he answers

"How could I? I control every aspect of my dream. Though you are certainly not part of it. I appreciate the company, kinda? But I'd rather not keep it. It's be nice if I just asked that dream being to remove you-"

"NO!"

"Excuse me?"

"P-Please...I-I don't wanna go back..."

He hated how his voice became frail at the drop of a hat, how his ears flattens and how shaky his hands became. Already begging to a tyrant, the same one who's destroyed everything in his life. What Fundy had begged was true, however, he didn't not want to go back to nightmares. This was the only time the dreams felt good. Albeit muddled by a lime menace, it was better than the frightening things ahead did him. The fox heard the man sigh.

"Sure, sure you can stay."

"Thank you..."

Fundy sat down in front of Dream, criss-cross legged. And the two were silent. The dreamer kept weaving in the flowers in the rope while the intruder simply watched. His clawed hands picked at the grass blades. Admittedly he enjoyed the scenery, if it weren't for the horror of a man in front of him. He noticed the excess rope tossed aside and something in Fundy urged him to use it too. He could tell eyes were on him again even from behind the unmoving mask.

"Yes, you can make flower crowns too. You know how to make one?"

"Y-yeah. Niki taught me how to make one with rope. I made hers with alliums. She gave me one made out to tulips" Fundy chuckled at the memory fondly.

Dream paid no mind just gave Fundy the extra rope and returned to his own project. After that, the quietness continued for much longer. But Fundy was never a fan of long silences.

"...Why a field? Out of flowers? I didn't know you were into this kind of stuff."

Dream paused for a minute, seemingly deliberating. He room a breath and spoke;

"It's just me wanting to relive old memories. Before settling in the SMP, me and George went to a flower field. We just spent half the say there doing jack all."

"It's always George is it?"

"... he's my friend. I'd do anything for him."

"Even terrorising a nation? Even threatening a kid? Even dethroning him?"

"..."

The silence spoke volumes. Fundy knew he overstepped, but it was hard for him to be sympathetic over it. He swore the surroundings looked dimmer for a second.

"I miss him. I'm no longer allowed visitors and even then, he never came by to visit."

"Who did?"

"Sapnap. Bad. Tommy, surely you know. Then Technoblade."

"Wait Techno visited you?"

"Less visit and more just made a new space in my jail cell. It's like a vacation to him. I'm not mad but...I like here better anyway."

"What's it like? In the jail cell."

"Tight. Closed. Hot. And I mean scorching. It's surrounded by lava. Barely much room to move around, not much there. I do have books to write in but so far I have started writing none."

"Someone hasn't been productive, I see?"

"I liked to write stuff. Just random things. But in a cramped space...I can't. I see why people are claustrophobic. It's feel like hell in there...for more than just the lava."

Fundy started to feel a twinge of a heat wave on his back as he stuck a flower into the rope. It died down shortly after.

"Since you're asking me questions. It should be fair I ask you."

"That's...yeah, that's fair."

"What were you doing, before you slept?"

"In bed. Just...alone in my cottage. Far away with no one else." Fundy lied, no matter the somewhat friendly tone, he wasn't ever going to risk Yoghurt.

"I thought you had Eret? Or Niki? I thought maybe you guys stay in at Least a neighbourhood."

"I...I haven't spoken to either in so long. I think they forgot about me. That's...fair"

"Hmm..."

Before I slept I was just building m stuff in Las Nevadas. It's...it's a thing Quackity built. I can't say more than that-"

A roar of something, not too loud but enough to be noticeable, came through. It spooked Fundy well enough.

"Dream what-"

"Let's...not talk about that."

"Well, what else is there to talk about me? I have nothing else. That...that palace is all I got going for me honestly."

"I thought you had more."

"No. After L'manburg, all of it gone, I don't have much else. By who, I wonder?I didn't care, that was fine by me until I did something different. I'm making sure I have a place, at least."

"Like a house?"

Fundy twisted the stalk gently, silently.

"Like a place of belonging. Where I can be remembered and people know where I am."

"I get that..."

"Of course you do, you tyrant. Your name is sure to be famous."

"Not the being remembered part. The belonging part."

The clouds seemed heavier at that moment.

"Find it hard to believe coming from the same guy that he cares for no one but a kid's discs."

"I know what I said, Fundy. But I don't care about the discs. I care about having control. Having everything in my hands. To take strings of the marionette and play them by my fingers. That's what I aim for, not just useless material discs."

"What does this have to do with belonging?"

The roar came back, a roar of thunder.

"The puppet master is not a puppet. He cannot be a puppet. When the puppets go free, he is left for dead..."

Dream's scarred hands clutch the half done green tulip crown. Down a drop goes from the petal. Then another, then another. Fundy looks up, to see the trickles. Down the drops of precipitation go to his face. Fundy's chest felt heavy, clebtched by something in a grip. He saw Dream looking up as well. From the angle he could partially see the bottom features under the mask. A pursed mouth with scars on his lips. Dottings of freckles across his cheeks. Streaks of not raindrops reaching down his chin. He heard the hiccups, the struggle to compose oneself. He knew that too well. Fundy found the part to care about as he stroked Dream's forearm carefully.

"I-I'm sorry, It's...I-I'm never like this. I'll just change-" the masked man's voice was breakable, cusp of falling apart.

"No. I like the rain."

Dream looked back to Fundy. It was true, the fox-hybrid liked rain. He used to play in the puddles as it drizzled even into adulthood, before more important things occupied his time. Like getting weapons for war or spying on a president. Fundy had on a solemn smile, a weak one in the likeable weather. His hair and fur became bristled whislt his tail wrapped unconsciously around him.

"I feel alone too. Everyone has left me

The people that I care about always hate me or leave. They leave me frightened in a place where everything so to survive. I'm barely staying alive as is. I don't have anyone."

"I don't have anyone either. I'm heartless, I pushed them away. Techno is with me, yeah. But what happens then? I'm too scared to find out. All I want is to just be free..."

Fundy laughed a bit. He tossed aside the half-effort flower crown and stood up. He opened his arms wide, further than his shoulders. He kept laughing, giggling, wheezing over. He raked a hand through ginger and snow white locks of his, knocking back his black breton cap.

"What's so funny?"

"Well, one, it's already crazy you're telling me all of this. This all feels like stuff you'd suppressed hard. Even in your dreams. And secondly...god, I wish we talked more sooner."

"What?"

"You and me, both alone in this world. We're unlovable. Reckless bastards we are. I'm not the worst like you but by Prime, I'm just as lonely as you. I can't excuse reving Wilbur and the 16th...but maybe we could've been friends."

He knew dream was smiling, not from the mask but from the small line of daylight peeking through the clouds.

"Fundy, I could never be friends with you. I'd push you away too."

"Then don't push me away now. I'm desperate, man."

"...I wouldn't."

Fundy smiled a glint of the sun right back at Dream. For once in a dream, he was at ease. The pouring rain slowed s little down to a drizzle, enough fro him to avoid smelling of dog water. The clouds journeyed away from the meadow, and let the sun's smile through. He loved the rays of sunshine gracing his face above him. He loved he could stare at the cloud-scattered sky for almost hours. He loved the winnow through the grass that made them dance. He loved it there.

"Sorry about the rain. In my dreams, I rarely can talk to anyone. And techno is not exactly the most relatable with what I have. Outside, I keep it in. But where I am, where we are, is inside me already."

"Fun to know this is the inner machinations of the terror Dream."

"Hehehah"

"...I probably won't remember this happend. When I wake I won't have a clear thought of events. Just so you'd know."

"It's fine. I knew you wouldn't anyway. That's why I let most of it out. That and because, I feel like I can trust you. I can't leave my cell but maybe someday I'll find you again. And maybe-"

A click from behind Dream's head could be heard. He moved his hand latched onto the mask and pulled it down. There he was, gentle scarred smile with even gentler eyes, covered by dirty blonde turning silver white to the tips. Irises coloured almost like emerald and aqua ender eyes looked back to the fox. Finally, his black tipped ears lifted and twitched, and his tail was wagging slightly.

"-we could be alone together again?"

Fundy's heart ached, sore already.

"I'd like to. For now, let's just depend on dreams."

"I can work with that."

Dream tossed his mask aside, uncaring and apathetic to the piece of porcelain disguise. He gently pushed Fundy by the tip of his finger, to which the former feign to be toppled. He fell in the middle of the tall peonies and lavenders and tulips. Dream joined a second after, right next to Fundy. Bliss, this is what he Fundy would call it. He felt less tensed, less mangled on fear. He had spent sleeping hours just shaken, because his fears conquered him alone. Taunting him because he was alone. Preyed on every part of him alone. But now he had a chance, to dwell int eh shrot grass, be crowned royalty in a field of flowers and feel less on his own. Fundy closed his eyes, as the smell of morning dew hit him.

And he woke up, lied curled up next to Yoghurt. And with a flower in his palm. A rose. He already wants to sleep, no matter the chance of being in the desert again. He wants to see the sunshine in the field of flowers more than anything.

[numptypylon]

Epilogue

I added a short epilogue to Reunion and Intersection today, but I also wrote a much longer one, full of fluffy comfort, to get through the angst-writing in the first two chapters. It’s unedited, unfinished and ridiculously self-indulgent, and I don’t think it really goes with the story, so I elected to not post it, but I’m attaching it here, under the cut, for those interested. Keep in mind it’s a reject for a reason though; this is what my writing looks like in the explorative phase where I’m looking for the point, and in this case I didn’t really find it XD

~2K under the readmore

Callum got there early. A lot of people eyed him warily, but a letter from Queen Janai was a good smoother-of-grumpy-elf-tempers.

No-one had seen Rayla, so… she was probably not here yet.

He went to the inn, bought a large room, lit a roaring fire in there, activating the Sunfire rock he used to keep warm at night under the covers of the bed, and calling for the tub to be filled. It had the usual Skywing heating arrangement, only needing a good Fulminis to heat the water.

He resisted flying out to find her. He risked missing her again, and her leaving town before he got back.

It was about… hitting the point of intersection.

So, he waited at the city gates. He didn’t have to wait nearly as long as he expected, considering the distance she would have had to traverse. Maybe she had recovered and had travelled faster than he thought.

It was definitely her though. A small, lone figure on the mountainside.

He intended to wait for her until she got to him, but then she stopped to lean against a tree and he realized that she had not recovered and was up there sick in the snow… and that resolve evaporated like it had never been.

Like he would ever let her struggle alone a moment longer than she needed to.

 **

 It was a measure of her exhaustion that she didn’t notice him until he was basically right in front of her, and even then, her reaction was so much slower than usual.

It still… it was hard to believe it was real. For her too, surely more so.

He numbly pulled his scarf off, packing it around her neck and head. He grazed her cheek and felt it and she felt it and… she felt it, because the tears that had built up in her eyes spilled over at his touch, slipping down her dirty and flushed cheeks.

She looked ready to drop, and felt it too, when he put his arms around her and her disbelief gave way to relief. Whatever ridiculous level of stubbornness had kept her upright for the last day and night of walking through snow and up mountains when she should have been in bed… fell away and she slumped almost completely in his arms.

She sobbed hoarsely for a bit, and he let her.

And she let him, when his hand cupped the back of her head and her hair tickled his fingers and it hit him too that… it was really real, she was here.

They needed to… get to the inn though, so he pulled away and wiped his face. They could… and probably would… have a longer cry and a longer hug later. But she was sick and cold and there was a roaring fire and a filled bathtub two minutes of flight away.

“Let’s go,” he said. “I knew you were coming this way and that you were sick. And I booked a room for… you.” For them both, he hoped, but-

“What?” she blubbered. “But… aren’t… aren’t you mad?”

“I mean, of course I am, but… that’s not really… that can wait.”

“I’m…” she laughed weakly, more tears spilling over. “I’m so happy to see you and there’s… so many things I would like to say and… and I’m such a mess right now and so tired and I’m just… I’m so tired I cried earlier just because a stupid pine branch hit me in the face and knocked me off my sled and it continued down the mountain without me and I’d have to walk instead and-“

“Hey, hey!” He stroked down her flushed, wet cheeks, along fresh scratches where presumably that branch had hit her. Sledding, huh… she always was extremely resourceful and oh so daring. And that explained how she got here so fast. “Rayla, it’s okay. You can rest first. I’ll take care of things… of you. For as long as you want me to, but… definitely for the next few days.”

“How c-can you… are you… here-”

He leant his head against her forehead, relishing in the feeling of contact, even if her skin was clammy and too-hot. “That’s… complicated,” he said. “And also simple. You called me here. I came.”

“Manis. Pluma. Volantis.”

 **

 She staggered, when they set down, steadying herself on his shoulder, and Callum was glad he had elected to land in front of the inn instead of at the city gates.

She definitely wasn’t well yet, her breath rasping in her throat, her forehead beading with sweat, cheeks and ears flushed. The fever had maybe broken, but it hadn’t quite left. And she was exhausted, trembling with the effort of staying upright, her eyes dull and glassy.

People were staring, when they went inside, but the innkeeper came over and recommended the soup of the day, and their house-made herbal tea blend with Sky Yak milk, and assured them it would be brought to their room shortly, with a look of very obvious sympathy at Rayla.

And then the door shut behind them.

“I owe-” she started, but he cut her right off.

“No. You’re owed,” he said tightly.

“Owed what?” She sounded… nervous.

“Soup. Hot tea. A warm bed and a fire someone else made. General fussing. Love. Forgiveness. Kindness. A damn break, for once.”

“L-love?”

“Yeah, love.”

Her clumsy fingers fumbled at the clasps of her armor. They were still ice cold when he touched them, the skin red and no-doubt sore.

But she for once didn’t resist any help he gave, sinking gratefully into the tub he had prepared. A warm bath was possibly not great for her fever, but… it was pros and cons and he needed to warm up her hands and feet.

She was barely conscious when he helped her back out of the tub, so he just put her down on a towel on the bed, drying her hair as best he could. He at least managed to get her awake to pull off her own wet underwear and pull his clean night shirt over her head.

 **

 “Callum?” she asked, because… she wanted things, and she could have them. “Stay with me? Please.”

He pressed against her back, warm and real.

His hands engulfed hers, big and soft and familiar.

Full of real little details that her brain hadn’t accurately recreated.

The callus at the side of his right index finger, from his charcoal pencil. The scar from a clumsy sparring accident at the second knuckle.

His voice when he said her name and when he told her it was okay.

His kinda… snuffling non-snoring sleep-sound.

And new things, that she hadn’t known to add.

His arms, still skinny, but stronger than they had been.

His too-long hair flopping over his ears.

And things she had yet to find out.

 **

 “Morning-“ she muttered, as she woke, feeling warm. And her throat felt a lot better, too and most of that sticky, gross fever feeling was gone, although there was still some sluggish daze, everything just a bit vaguer and floatier than it should have been.

“Afternoon,” Callum corrected lightly, but there was something not so light underneath. “You slept for… 14 hours. I bet you’re hungry.”

“I bet… you were worried.” That was a long time to worry and not wake her to assuage it but just sit in it, watching her sleep.

She reached out to stroke his furrowed brow. Her hands were bandaged though, so she couldn’t touch him properly. She didn’t remember, but did recall something about Callum saying he had called a doctor, and then she must have conked out pretty hard and slept through it.

She clenched and released her hands experimentally. Seemed alright except for being stiff and sore?

“What’s wrong with me?” she asked, staring down at the thick bandages.

“Except for the illness that nearly killed you because you’re such a massive dummy? Lots of things.” He took her hands, starting to unwind the bandages. “For your hands, hopefully only frostnip. I’m supposed to check that, when you woke, take you back to the doctor if there’s signs of deeper frostbite.”

There was some thick ointment, probably the reason for the bandages. Her hands looked reddened, the fingers a bit swollen, but… not so bad. Nothing was white or black or blistered, so really, nothing to worry about, where frostbite was concerned.

Callum wasn’t satisfied with a visual inspection though, cupping her hands in his, methodically checking she could feel all her fingers and make a full fist.

“I think it’s okay,” he said, breathing out, relieved. He did tend to catastrophize- “No… no risk of amputation this time-” His fingers slid across her left wrist, the faint whitened scars from where the binding had dug into her skin and where the sunforge blade had burnt her.

“It’s definitely okay,” she said. “Barely hurts.” She cupped his face, feeling his skin just fine against her fingertips. “It’s not like back then, okay?”

“How do you feel today?”

“Better. Way better. I’m ready to go, if-”

“What?!” He stared at her in disbelief. “Absolutely not. You didn’t hear what the doctor said. But I did, she got here while you were sleeping. And absolutely not.”

“What-“ Was it not just a regular bug?

He breathed, slowly and deliberately. “You’re okay, it’s a regular winter infection going around. But you did a number on your own immune system with the hypothermia and mountain climbing and… she said you were undernourished, dehydrated, stressed and critically exhausted. And that you would do well to take a week or more to fully recover, during which you should eat and rest plenty, stay warm and keep stress down. Does that sound like your regular travel, to you?”

Well… not so much.

“So, I’ll ask again, how do you feel today?”

“Tired,” she sighed. “My hands are stiff and achy. My throat hurts. My legs are wobbly. My head feels full of snot.” She smiled, despite all that. “My heart is happy to see you. It’s okay if you’re- I know… that it’s complicated.”

“It is. We have… some things to talk about. Promise you won’t leave until we do?”

“I promise.”

“Okay. Then, I think we should put the complicated things away for a few days. Until you’re better and it doesn’t hurt your throat to talk. Because… we have a lot of talking to do.”

“You don’t… need to stay. For those few days. If it’s hurting you to-”

He sighed heavily. “It does.” Yeah, he couldn’t say that it didn’t. Being around her with so much… unresolved. She didn’t want that for him. She didn’t… want to have those long and hard conversations right now either, when she was still tired and fevered and liable to burst into tears at the slightest provocation. “But it would hurt me more to leave. Didn’t it hurt you? To leave?”

“Yeah.” So, so much.

He reached out to pack his scarf around her throat more closely, the soft, warm knit a soothing feeling against the raw ache.

“Lie down, okay? Be sick? I’ll read you a story. It has murder and dismemberment in it, I asked the innkeeper specifically.”

[3laxx]

Built to Last - Chapter 1

Amity hadn't dreamed to spend her summer like this. She had just graduated from a prestigious private school and had hoped she could escape to her own little adventure until her scholarship at the college starts, but instead, her parents decide to pimp up her résumé and make her a supervisor at their newest little project, a mansion in the middle of nature. She would rather be anywhere else, yet as she meets Luz Noceda, she finds construction work very interesting, all of a sudden. And that's totally not due to the fact that Luz is all her gay dreams coming true.

Heya people! I'm back with a new story!

One of my bigger projects at the moment and one of the reasons why I haven't been uploading for over a month xD I started working in my new job! Also got my first paycheck already! And I've been writing A LOT ever since the start of September! So yeah, this is kind of inspired by my work and I've written quite a bit for this already. It's basically just Luz being hot, Amity being gay, and a lot of mad blushes x)

Ao3 / FF.net

---

As Amity’s car came to a stop, she sighed, before pulling the handbrake and looking up to the mansion that was standing in front of her.

Or rather, the structural work she could see. While the shape of the mansion was already erected, with the base and all the walls out of sturdy concrete standing, there was still a lot to do.

Her parents had decided to build a giant new mansion in the middle of a huge land they had purchased, full of forest and beautiful scenery, and it was on her to oversee the construction.

It wasn’t that Amity had any idea how construction worked.

Her parents were on a business trip, like almost all her life long, and her siblings were in the middle of their studies, and focusing on this was of the utmost importance in the Blight household.

Amity was twenty now and had just graduated from an expensive private school her parents had sent her to, to enable a scholarship at a very renowned university.

So, essentially, her summer had been meant to be free and be spent by maybe relaxing for once, maybe even traveling a little, but since her mother detested holes in her résumé, she had to be kept busy somehow.

This meant that her position in overseeing the progress on their new mansion project was registered as “construction project management” and she was required to at least show up once a day and stay for a few hours.

She knew exactly what her parents' plan was.

They believed workers worked twice as fast and neatly when the customer was standing right behind them and monitoring their progress personally.

In short, her parents believed in intimidation.

It really wasn’t Amity’s style to be a fearmonger and do nothing more than to annoy the workers and create tension in their workspace. It was an issue of trust, that Amity had in the companies her parents had hired, but her parents didn’t and she couldn’t understand why.

After years of being monitored down to the littlest detail, she knew out of experience that someone breathing down her neck wasn’t something that helped along with productivity, quality, or speed.

But her parents had put her name on the project, it was all over everyone’s plans and she was an official member of the board overseeing this construction.

It wasn’t mandatory for her to show up to the site in her job description, nor was it mandatory for her to oversee any progress. But her parents had made sure to let her know what they expected of her before they had left. Amity hated that she was so intimidated by her parents to fulfill their wishes even if they weren’t here, even if she wasn’t sure if they were still on the same continent, but she was and so she had driven up here every single day and seen the mansion be built up completely in a matter of a month. Well, construction had already started when she had still been in school, so she hadn’t seen all of it.

Her parents had done that, of course.

Sighing, she got out of the car and headed up to the mansion, located on a little hill, towering above the giant property. It was a holiday getaway, her parents had insisted, even if she believed it was more to house some high-ranking guests, maybe some politicians her parents paid, to get in their good graces.

She mostly had that theory because she couldn’t remember the last time her parents had taken a genuine break from their work. Granted, sometimes they traveled to some holiday homes or some luxury hotels, but even these were sprinkled by meeting someone, having a friendly round of golf to discuss business and such things.

Her parents never acted without their business in the back of their heads.

Shaking her head, Amity freed her thoughts of her parents. She didn’t want to think of them. Coming in a few months she would move far away from them, actually near where they were building this mansion right now, and start her studies. And then she would only have to deal with them whenever they cooked up another business thing and roped Amity in, or at family holidays to keep the illusion of a happy family. She was just glad her siblings would be there with her.

Today, the interior design team would start.

The structural work was done, as far as it went, as were all the systems in place like heating, water, and gas.

Now, they had commissioned a fairly small local company building luxury interiors to do all the decorating in the entire house with floors, walls, ceilings, doing all the interior design of the sanitary rooms and kitchen, as well as all built-in furniture and whatever else Amity could think of.

It wasn’t that Amity knew what was necessary for the installation of everything, but she had self-taught quite a lot of theory through videos online due to a personal interest of hers and at least had an idea of what they were talking about.

Not that she let them in on that.

Whenever she had been there overseeing construction of the structural work, she had done her best to make herself appear as clueless as she could without sounding dumb, so they would be able to relax a little more.

If someone was looking over your shoulder who had no idea what you were doing anyway, it’d always feel more relaxed.

She hoped to at least relieve some of the intended intimidation meant by her parents.

Approaching the estate, she already saw some of her colleagues looking in her direction, some of the actual project managers, and a new site manager that she didn’t know yet. She had long black hair and a relatively tall statue, as well as a rigid posture. She was wearing a suit, too.

Did someone tell her Amity was coming?

If so, and she had decided to wear a suit just for her, that’d be embarrassing.

She appeared to acknowledge her arrival but turned back to another site engineer that Amity hadn’t had the pleasure of being introduced to yet. She looked very similar to the other one, only that her hair was really long, gray, and in a rather messy ponytail.

She also wore work pants and a simple shirt with the name of the company printed on the back and, smaller, on the chest. Amity immediately recognized the symbol on the woman’s chest as the one printed on the van next to them as well, which was a stylized owl, and read Clawthorne Sisters beneath it.

Amity had been excited for them to arrive. Now that the concrete was in place, all the drywall installations were finished and all the necessary cables and pipes were installed, the interesting part would begin. Making everything look like a home, instead of a palace of concrete and ugly pipes.

Or, well…

A house. Make it look like a house, instead of a skeleton. This mansion would never become home to anybody.

Finally arriving at the front door, Amity greeted all the project managers, engineers, and architects she already knew, who didn’t show up every day but had only come here to oversee the start of the interior design, before turning to the tall woman with a clipboard and strikingly green eyes.

“Good morning, my name is Amity Blight.”, she started and held out a hand to the woman, whose eyebrows shot up at the mention of her last name. Apparently, nobody had told her that she would be coming and Amity felt relief flooding her veins when she realized that this site manager had not dressed up for her.

“Lilith Clawthorne, it’s my pleasure.”, she greeted back and they shook hands, before she turned to the other, an equally tall woman next to her.

“This is Edalyn Clawthorne, site engineer and master mechanic of our company. You may direct any questions you have about plans, time management and schedules at me, and any technical questions at her.”, Amity nodded to that and shook the other woman’s hand as well. They seemed to be the sisters after which the company was named.

“Alright, good to know.”, she said but didn’t continue any further, so she just listened to the project managers talk for a while, before looking around and finding the master mechanic missing.

The site manager seemed to notice this.

“If you like, Miss Blight, we can head inside and oversee the progress since this morning.”

To that, Amity nodded, although a feeling of dread pooled in her stomach.

This meant producing the stress her parents wanted. They had explicitly instructed the project managers to inform their workers not to address them or interrupt their tour in any way.

In Amity’s experience, this had always resulted in tensions.

But Ms. Clawthorne was already heading inside and everyone else stepped back to let Amity in first, so she followed.

Just after the door, they each took a helmet from a prepared stand and put it on, since there would be overhead installation going on and the Clawthorne Sisters company had insisted on everyone, without exception, to wear a helmet. That had just made them all the more attractive to Amity, while she already held them in high regard judging from their portfolio and versatility in interior design and luxury decorations.

As expected, the conversations between some workers installing a floor in the entrance area quickly died out and they hunched over, focusing on their task ahead. They stopped as Ms. Clawthorne began explaining how these natural floorboards would be imported for them, ground and finished to feel natural yet soft, while Amity began looking around.

There were a lot of new faces around here since the Clawthorne Sisters had brought all their workers and replaced the construction crew almost completely, safe for a few left-over workers who cleaned up the last of their work and deconstructed some equipment they had used.

Amity mostly noted how young most of them were.

The entrance area was manned by two boys, maybe even younger than her, who were doing some of the easier tasks, managing wires to be hidden by the floorboards by tying them together and treating some sealed pipes. Down the hallway she saw a girl, around her age, managing some wires in the walls and making sure everything was neat and orderly for the wall decorations to be installed on top.

Taking a few steps away from the planning team, she peeked into the main lobby and saw three more people, two boys, and a girl, rearranging some supplies and equipment they had brought to be stashed in the wide space and not be in anyone’s way, looking just a bit older than her.

“Huh…”, she felt herself mumbling, before turning back and feeling all eyes on her as she returned to the group, immediately feeling a blush rising.

“Is everything to your expectations, Miss Blight?”, Ms. Clawthorne asked and she was quick to nod.

“Oh, yes, everything is alright!”, she was quick to assure, but the piercing eyes of the site manager quickly realized there was a question forming, so Amity seized the opportunity, “Just… I’ve seen a lot of workers my age. Do you usually employ younger workers?” To her surprise, Ms. Clawthorne smiled at that, something she hadn’t expected to see today when she had seen the slight scowl she always seemed to wear on her lips.

“We’ve had a few workers leaving the company for their retirement lately, and my sister and I strongly agree to encourage and support the younger generations to get an education in handicrafts. We have assembled a strong team of young employees and trainees for our company and they’ve proven to be very reliable, you can be assured.”

Amity nodded at that and quickly jumped in to reassure that her question wasn’t meant as a critique or concern.

“Oh, I wasn’t worrying! I think that’s very progressive.”, she quickly said and earned a nod from Ms. Clawthorne, giving her the feeling that she had just risen in her respect before the group continued walking through the mansion. Ms. Clawthorne pointed out a few things, explained some others, and they gradually lost more and more project managers and architects to discuss plans in more detail, until just Ms. Clawthorne and Amity were left to walk through the upper level, talking about some decoration elements that would be installed up here in the master bedroom, their conversation having turned rather relaxed and almost amicable after they left all the workers and other project planners behind and had some time to get to know each other better.

Until someone came stomping up the stairs rather loudly.

Ms. Clawthorne, Lilith, as she had assured her, immediately stiffened up and Amity turned to locate the commotion, seeing a tall girl her age come barreling up the stairs with some boards on her shoulder, a wide grin on her face with white teeth that shone against her dark skin in the contrast, as she jogged up the last few steps.

The girl turned, the boards swinging around, and suddenly, Amity saw the boards coming her way, right at the height of her face.

Seemingly just before impact, the girl gave the boards a nudge while Amity was already ducking her head, and a cheerful voice that sounded like it was laughing a lot in her life, sounded.

“Whoops! Duck!”, she exclaimed and the boards went right over Amity’s head, bonking her helmet, before she dared to look up again, watching the girl stopping right in front of her, still turned sideways not to have the boards that she was balancing on her shoulder trying to decapitate Amity again.

“Woah there, that was almost bad! You good?”, the girl chuckled, her not-so-scrawny shoulders shaking in delight, before giving Amity’s helmet a knock with her knuckles. Her ears were almost ringing from the knocking and she ducked her head again, only then did the girl let off, “That’s what the helmets are for!”

Amity managed a nod but the girl was already walking past her, whistling a happy tune, while waving her hand back at them.

“Sorry again!”, she called, before rounding the corner and apparently finding a coworker of hers with which she began talking, her voice carrying away the further she went.

The young Blight was embarrassed to admit that she had stared after her toned forearms and biceps, her slim calves, and her back long after she had vanished behind a wall.

Slowly, Amity could relax her shoulders again and straightened back up, adjusting her helmet, and turning back to Ms. Clawthorne. To claim she was furious was probably an understatement.

Her entire face with a rather fair skin tone was flaming while she looked after where the girl had gone and she was shaking in anger.

Turning away from Amity, probably to shield her from her voice, she yelled after the girl, raising her fist.

“LUZ NOCEDA, COME BACK HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!!”, she yelled and Amity couldn’t deny she had flinched before the melodic voice with the slightest Spanish accent called back.

“Just a moment, Lily! Be right there!”, she faintly called, but Amity couldn’t focus. All she could think about was her name that she had just learned, and she swore she wouldn’t forget it.

Luz Noceda.

“You wanted to talk to me?”, the girl, Luz, grinned as she came back, this time without boards, and propped her hands upon her waist. Only now, Amity could get a proper look at her.

She felt her heart speeding up when she took in her whole appearance. Luz was wearing worn-out safety shoes, some loose-fitting shorts, and a dark pullover with the company’s logo printed on her chest with the sleeves pushed up to her elbows, as well as a toolbelt and a helmet on her brown, sweaty, and very messy hair.

Her face was cute and looked like she was a lot of fun to be around, her brown eyes sparkling with joy about something she had just experienced, maybe a joke with a coworker, judging from the volume at which she had been laughing downstairs and down the hall.

Well, Amity had known she was gay, but that gay?

Gulping, she took in the girl in front of her that was about half a head taller than her, then she flinched at Ms. Clawthorne’s voice winning in volume again.

“Luz Noceda! First of all, workplace safety! You know exactly to check your way when carrying big loads. And second of all, you apologize immediately! Do you know who-”

Luz seemingly shrunk more and more with each word her boss was yelling at her, and since she couldn’t bear watching that bubbliness being suppressed like this, Amity acted unthinkingly and cut into her tirade, holding out her hand.

“I’m Amity. Pleasure to meet you.”, she quickly exclaimed, a little louder than planned to interrupt Ms. Clawthorne, but her speaking up had an immediate effect.

The older woman next to her gulped the rest of her sentence and switched her gaze from Luz down to Amity, staring silently.

In contrary to her boss, Luz was apparently delighted. Immediately, her shoulders straightened again and she took Amity’s hand after taking off her glove, grinning.

“Luz. Sorry for slamming the boards on your head, I’ll take better care next time. You the architect’s intern or something?”, she replied while shaking Amity’s hand and she giggled, shaking her head, paying Ms. Clawthorne no mind while she started getting angry again, ready to make Luz three heads shorter.

“No, I’m-… Doesn’t matter.”, she laughed, waving it off, “A-And, uh, don’t worry about the boards, that’s why we wear helmets.”

Luz gave her the finger guns and clicked with her tongue, before pulling on her glove again.

“Alright then, have a lot of fun planning or whatever you guys do, I’ll do more interesting stuff.”

She winked and Amity could’ve sworn she was flirting with her. Which completely distracted her from the fact that Ms. Clawthorne’s eyelid was already twitching in uncontrolled rage.

While Luz sauntered off, Amity caught the attention of her boss again, eager not to let her be too mad at her employee. Trying a careful approach to change the topic, she softly clapped her hands together, winning back Ms. Clawthorne’s attention.

“So… I believe we haven’t talked about the bathrooms yet, am I correct?”, she inquired and Ms. Clawthorne immediately switched back to her polite way, nodding stiffly.

“Yes, Miss Blight, right this way.”, she offered Amity to walk ahead and led her down the same hallway Luz had gone, and she couldn’t stop herself from peeking inside the room Luz and a coworker of hers were preparing to work on, catching a glimpse of Luz’s toned calves flexing when she stood on her tiptoes to mark something on the wall.

Unfortunately, the door went by quickly and she couldn’t see much more of her when she had already walked past, before having to turn back to the topics her parents wanted her to discuss. Which was a lot drier planning and listening and trying to visualize complicated construction plans.

It really wasn’t that Amity wasn’t interested in learning all of this. She loved hearing about construction projects and planning where to put elements to create a harmonizing room.

But now that she had seen Luz?

Well, it wasn’t that Amity was overly starved of seeing attractive people. There were a lot of attractive people in her close environment, some of her friends for example and she couldn’t deny that most of her family’s acquaintances were fairly good-looking as well.

But something about Luz had fascinated her.

The way she moved, the way she was covered in dust and sweat and had still smelled kind of good. The way her eyes were sparkling and how she was so comfortable in her own skin, walking through her life as if she was exactly in the place where she wanted to be.

Amity was fascinated by the honest and self-assured way she was moving, behaving, and acting.

And, well, there was the fact that Luz was just ridiculously attractive to her.

She sure as hell wouldn’t forget the way her white teeth shone against her dark skin and how her muscles moved and-

“I’m afraid I must ask you to excuse me, Miss Blight.”, a firm voice suddenly interrupted her thinking and she looked up from the plan Ms. Clawthorne had spread on a nearby table, only then hearing the ringing of a phone. Mutely nodding, Amity took a step back to grant her some privacy and tried to look back at the plan, making some sense of what she saw. It was some kind of cover for the bathtub, she believed. Or was it for the sinks?

Internally groaning, she shook her head to herself. If she hadn’t spent dreaming about Luz the entire time she would have an idea of what Ms. Clawthorne had been explaining to her and she’d be able to work out what the plan was about.

But, as luck would have it, she got off her phone and turned to her with an apologetic face.

“I’m very sorry, Miss Blight, but I’ll have to cut our tour short here. Some of my workers have started laser measuring the walls downstairs and I’m afraid I have to join them and the architect to work out the plans for that. Do you need me to bring you back to the front door?”

Her chance!

Quickly, Amity shook her head and smiled.

“Oh, no thanks! I will look around a bit more and get back to you before I leave, thank you.”, she excused the woman and without missing a beat, the site manager nodded and left her to her own devices.

It wasn’t that Amity had wanted her to go, but now she could maybe sneak a peek at the attractive worker, Luz, again…?

Tempted to slap herself, she furrowed her eyebrows.

Spying on workers?

How shameful. She shouldn’t do that.

Humming, Amity turned to wander out of the bathroom-to-be and down the hallway again, hearing voices getting louder the closer she drew to the room where she had seen Luz starting her work. But instead of spotting the ridiculously attractive girl, she was met by her rather sturdy coworker with slightly chubby cheeks, a kind face, and dark hair, along with the dark-skinned boy she had seen in the entrance hall already. They both talked quieter when they noticed her wandering past and Amity picked up her pace to be out of their hair as quickly as possible again.

She wondered where Luz had gone.

Maybe she had gone downstairs again to get more boards?

Amity decided that checking it out wouldn’t hurt, so she walked downstairs, past some more surprisingly young workers and some of the management board nodding to her politely, before stepping out of the entrance area again into the fresh air and breathing through.

Behind her, the work was picking up and she began hearing a drill hammering into some concrete, as well as a saw somewhere around the mansion, but she didn’t think much of it, the air was feeling way too nice after walking through the dusty construction site.

Wait a minute…

She had seen Luz carrying up boards from below. Maybe she had cut them to length?

More out of curiosity than anything, Amity stepped off the porch and rounded the mansion, peeking around a corner, only to spot the very same girl she had found herself losing her concentration to upstairs, standing by some trestle legs on which she had placed boards, cutting them with a circular saw. She looked very concentrated and was wearing some ear protection now, as well as some glasses to protect herself from the saw dust.

Amity clenched her hand around the corner of the house when she felt her heart speeding up, licking her lips when she saw how Luz was leaning forward a bit more, the muscles on her elbow coming out.

She wasn’t overly muscular or anything, and Amity didn’t like bodybuilder types anyway, but it showed that Luz had worked in this field for quite some time already, and with being on constructions like this one, she probably got all the workout she needed just by working.

Humming, Amity finally decided to stop being a creep and pretend to be on her phone like a normal human, pulling it out to pretend and tap on it a little while walking out from the corner.

She did her best to appear busy on her phone, but Luz didn’t even acknowledge her.

Better for her, because she could keep staring.

Out of the corner of her eyes, Amity could see the saw dust covering Luz’s forearms, giving them a slight sheet of dust, and she wished she could be closer to watch her cutting those boards in more detail.

But this was getting really creepy. She should stop.

Shaking her head, Amity groaned and looked up to the sky, before shooting Luz one last glance and walking back to the entrance area, putting her phone away.

Maybe she could talk to her someday. Or just listen to her again.

Grumbling to herself, Amity did one last tour of the whole house, waiting and hoping for her confidence to build up again to talk to the cute girl, but when she had walked past Ms. Clawthorne a second time, she supposed she had to wave that wish goodbye.

Bidding her goodbyes to all the members of the project management board, she walked back to her car and sat in the driver’s seat, defeated.

Now she had had the chance to have normal conversations here, the entire mansion was full of young workers instead of moody old men, and she had blown it. She could only hope Luz would be there tomorrow.

Sending a last, longing gaze to the now-abandoned saw sitting on the trestle legs, she started her car and put it in reverse.

Either this had been it or she would have another chance tomorrow.

For now, this was enough for her. But this evening she would deeply regret leaving without having tried anything because when she lied down to sleep, the pictures of an unfairly attractive girl working at the site wouldn’t leave her mind alone.

 ---

“LUZ NOCEDA!”, a voice yelled from downstairs just before the evening and the young woman currently handling the last of the wires listened up.

“Oh, that sounded like Lilith.”, she noted and Willow snorted.

“Ya think?”, she asked and Luz grumbled when she got up, shooting Willow a look.

“I don’t need your sass right now, Willow.”, she shot back at her friend who just snickered, shaking her head before going back to drilling holes into the boards for tomorrow.

“COME DOWN HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!”, made both of them flinch, causing Luz to duck her head.

“You better go, she sounds seriously angry.”, Willow shooed Luz with a handwave, putting her drill into position again.

Luz quickly made her way out of the room and down the hallway towards the stairs, where she already saw Lilith standing at the base of them.

Gulping, she made her way down and Lilith glared at her, making her grimace.

“Uh, yes?”, she sheepishly responded, already scared of what she had done wrong when Lilith turned and waved her to follow. Oh, this was bad.

If she didn’t want to scold her in front of everyone, she was going to get the harshest yelling she had ever gotten. Lilith led her outside, before turning back to the young woman and holding out her finger, her face uncharacteristically red.

“Do you have any idea what you did today?!”, she hissed and Luz pulled up her shoulders, eyes wide.

“Did-… Did I, uh, what did I do?”, she carefully asked, but that only seemed to explode Lilith’s rage.

“You embarrassed us IN FRONT OF OUR CUSTOMER!!”, she finally yelled and Luz could already feel all eyes on her while her coworkers gathered on the windows to watch where the yelling had come from.

“O-Our customer?”, Luz ducked her head more when Lilith got redder.

“YOU SLAMMED BOARDS ON HER HEAD, YOU IDIOT!!”, she screamed and Luz’s heart dropped into her pants. So that fancy-dressed had been because she had been the customer.

Oh.

Oooooh.

She had… She had bonked boards on her head and then knocked on her helmet. On their… On their million-dollar assignment customer.

Gulping, Luz sunk into herself more. She had absolutely blown their assignment, hadn’t she? She had just lost the company a couple Million dollars, she had gotten all of her coworkers fired, she’d pay compensation for the rest of her life, she would-

“You’re lucky she wasn’t hurt!! This could’ve gone very differently! I don’t know what kind of guardian angel you blackmailed to look over you, but if this had been Odalia Blight you would’ve been dead and the company along with you!!”, Lilith got closer to her and her screaming suddenly dropped to a very dangerous whisper, “If this hadn’t been the daughter of our customer, I would’ve killed you on the spot. You’re lucky she’s a lot nicer than her mother.”

Gulping, Luz leaned back a little.

“I-I’m not fired…?”, she tried and Lilith finally found back to her normally pale skin color, adjusting her suit.

“Your mother and my sister would have my head if I fired you. Also, Miss Blight was very forgiving and didn’t cancel our assignment, yet. We’re allowed to continue working for now. Until that’s not clear, though, you better not step too far away from the hanging tree, because I will personally put the hangman’s noose around your neck if the Blights terminate that job. Is that understood?”, Lilith got dangerously close again and Luz gulped, rubbing her neck.

“Very graphically understood.”, she mumbled and Lilith glared at her one more time, before straightening back up and walking back to the construction site.

“If you speak to her again, it will be an absolute emergency and you will do so politely and with some respect and dignity. And now clear up your things, we’ll leave at five sharp and if you’re late you’ll sleep here.”

Grumbling, Luz patted her chest to attempt and soothe her beating heart, before running a hand through her dusty hair and shaking it out. This had been shorter than she had anticipated.

Once again rubbing over her neck, she then followed Lilith inside and sighed. She was looking forward to the days where the jobs would be mundane enough for Lilith to stay in the office and let Eda handle the coordination. Having Eda as her superior instead of Lilith was absolutely preferable.

Well, if she was lucky, she would have to focus on work so much she wouldn’t even have time to acknowledge Miss Blight anymore. Maybe she also wouldn’t come back tomorrow, after all, the rich and wealthy had other things to worry about, right?

Especially their customers, who were paying for this giant mansion.

Humming, she entered the building again and ignored all her coworkers looking at her, before starting to pack up the tools she had used and collecting her personal stuff, like her gloves and jacket.

Willow shot her a sympathetic glance and Luz clapped on her shoulder to reassure her that she was okay for now, then they all gathered around their bus to be taken back to the company so they could end the day.

The whole evening, though, Luz fretted going to work the next day, fearing the possible encounter with the Blight girl. Hopefully, she wouldn’t show up so Luz wouldn’t risk her head, her financial stability, and her dignity for all eternity.

---

Let me know what you think! <3

[solesurvivorpaigeargot]

I absolutely LOVE Sketchy Saturdays and I always look forward to them!! As for my question(s)? What made you decide to start doing it(I'm glad you do but I was just curious!)?

Hoooo boi the Sketchy Saturday Origin Story: I suppose there's two versions.

The short version reads " Moving stress, deployment depression, and isolation VS. my utter determination to DO SOMETHING whilst trapped in my home " -- Sketchy Saturday was the result of that title fight, so I guess the fandom won in the end? XD

The long version, however... Well, buckle up, cause this is gonna be a ride.

It may surprise y'all to know that two years I was eyeballs-deep in the South Park fandom. The blog still exists; my mainblog, JustCallMeButtlord, built to interact with the audience of my fanfictions-- the New Kid Stories, called NKS for short [gonna be porting those to Ao3 soon, just gotta figure out what robo-reader I'm gonna use to make a quick n dirty podfic out of the series as well as help me hunt down typos my eyes galze over]. The first 'season' of stories had ended, 8 completed fics, and I was puttering about with a bonus holiday story that was several months out of season. Not that I CARED because I was on GUAM where seasons don't exist and my time blindness gets even worse becasue without seasons changing it feels like time never progrsses even after being on the island for three cocksucking years.

I don't hate Guam, I am just not built for constant heat. I am a snow creature; I like below-freezing temperatures so I can layer up in fuzzy, fluffy things and drink hot drinks and cuddle loved ones and/or furry animals. It's a lovely island, I adored my first week there... I just wasn't made to live there.

HIlariously, NKS started out of the stress of moving to Guam. Two years and 8 fics later, the place we were renting was no longer within our price range and my hubby and I were forced to move onto base. Under the leader whom I refuse to name, military pay was given a precentage raise... but it was ripped out of bonuses and OCONUS pay. OCONUS is what a military member is paid when they're stationed Outisde the CONtinental United States. This usually means overseas bases like Japan, but it also means Hawaii, aaaaaand... GUAM. So that percentage pay increase for the military at large meant belt-tightening for every service member abroad, and we were forced to move onto base.

In case y'all haven't noticed by now, I'm a raging socialist with some issued with authority. I DO NOT LIKE EXISTING ON BASE. I do not like existing in a place where the national anthem plays twice a day, every day, at 6 AM and then again whenever the hell sundown is that day. And there's an unspoken rule no one tells you that when it plays you're supposed to stop what you're doing, face the nearest set of speakers playing the song, and stare in that direction with your hand over your heart until its over. That, if you're driving, you have to put on your emergency flashers and pull over. No one tells you this. NO ONE TELLS YOU THIS.

And then, before we had secured a place on base but we had set a move out date for the rental house, the Pandemic happened. While we were between homes. The base is talking full lockdown, Guam authorities want to shut down the island but businesses are terrified of not getting the tourist season business, we don't even know if we'll be allowed to move on to base.

Surprise, I stopped writing for a while... but I picked Fallout 4 back up again. I had been forced into the series years earlier by a toxic relationship, but the game itself hadn't been bad-- just the way I'd been forced to play it by someone who was firmly not in my life anymore. When confronted with character creation, I wasn't sure whom I wanted to make... but decided to go back to an old character. A VERY old character, whom I hadn't thought of since I'd finished ME3 at least 4 years prior, and a character I first conceived of when I was 14-ish... which is now about 15 years ago.

Paige.

I've talked before about how well Paige's story maps onto Fo4, but this was before I knew that. I knew the opening, her losing her kid, and that fit with her-- but something clicked while I was playing and the part of my brain that likes to create started wandering off. Soon enough I've got a couple chapters of a ficlet that I'm TOTALLY just writing as a personal one-shot to de-stress, no way I'm publishing this, I don't wanna get distracted from NKS, I got a whole 'nother season to write! Who cares if no one is reading it anymore because South Park Fandom doesn't like continuous plots.... right?

I was burnt out as hell, the move was looming, the Pandemic was getting worse and everything was getting scarier.

Then the news came through that hubby would be deploying again.

He wasn't supposed to, but the Navy decided the safest place for their sailors was the middle of the ocean, so if you WERENT in quarantine you were going on the boat and you were living there. Didn't matter if your spouse would be alone, unpacking a whole home by themselves.

I had a friend on base. We hung out. I met with my DND group on weekends; we all lived on base now, so we could meet up in like five minutes... and then restrictions tightened. You could be fined up to 5 grand for gathering in groups greater than 5, even outdoors, and detained if suspected of going to a home that wasn't yours. I still met 2 of my friends once a week for walks; get outside, be active, talk to other humans, but besides that? I was locked up alone in a new house in a place that I did NOT like existing in.... with a fresh new hyperfixation developing.

I think it was about a week into the new house that I made the new blog. At first I tried to run it side by side with the South Park stuff, but it wasn't long before all my attention was here... aaaand it also wasn't long before I was confronted with a lot of my own despair; of lockdown, of isolation, of watching a broken system crumble and not being able to DO anything about it, and I started to kinda lose my shit. I fuss-- I can't leave things alone, and I couldn't leave this feeling alone; of being fully and entirely helpless and hopeless.

And then I sketched a thing for a friend, and it made them happy. They were having a rough time, too, and I put something together because I couldn't think of anything else. And it helped. It lifted them up, and it lifted me up, too. Someone else had recently reblogged one of those pallet challenges that floats around Tumblr, and I decided FUCK IT LET'S DO THIS THING AND CALL IT SKETCHY SATURDAY!

Little secret, the very first Sketchy Saturday request? Was me. I was so scared no one would noticed the event, I sent myself the very first request, back when the event still took anons. Soon as that first picture was up:

BANG, suddenly four more; some people off anon. I met people that day, talked to them after the very first Sketchy weekend was over, chatted about the games and characters and art and writing and just... felt human for the first time in a really long while.

I figured I'd hold on to Sketchy Saturday until the deployment was over-- once hubby was back, I'd decide whether I was keeping it or not... but he came back, and I was still super into it, and he was supportive, sooooo I kept going! And then we did Sketchy Secret Santa, and people loved it, and my volunteers are excited about being Sketchy Elves and Secret Helpers and just OH MY GOD I DID A THING GUYS. I DID A THING-- that was just me all December and January long lmafo.

AND JANUARY! Because AH HECK, WE MOVING AGAIN! Because hubby finally got orders, and OH MY GOD we're going back to WA... but it's still a move half-way around the globe, and I was SURE I'd have to shut down the event for a month while we got our shit in order and NOPE, because here come the volunteers from Sketchy Secret Santa, and they wanna fill in all month long! Like... I didn't even ask for that shit, guys. They offered it so the event wouldn't have to take a gap.

Jesus I'm getting teary just remembering it.

So yeah. Sketchy Saturday is here because I got really lonely and stressed out while Fallout 4 provided me with some... catharsis for my situation, and then a pandemic happened.

And then y'all happened, and I'm still here. :D

[merakiaes]

I’ll Never Leave You - Finn Shelby

Pairing: Finn Shelby x reader

Requested: Yes.

Prompts: None.

Warnings/notes: Angst. I wanted to have a fairly happy ending so I hope that’s okay and that it’s enough angst. It’s been a while since I wrote oneshots now so I hope it doesn’t totally suck xD Thanks for requesting!

Wordcount: 3031

Summary: You find out you’re pregnant with Finn’s baby. 

You didn’t know how it happened. Or well, of course you did. Everyone knew how babies were made. But you didn’t know how you could have let it happen.

You were only seventeen, and Finn as well. He was a Shelby, part of the Peaky Blinders. That was no life you wanted to bring a child into. How could you? The two of you barely even knew how to take care of yourselves and the family you already had. How would you be able to raise a child when you were still children yourselves?

You had been stupid, not thinking of the risks that came with fooling around. But you were both overly hormonal teenagers, with the need to take out your built up frustrations and act out to get the attention from your respective families that you so desperately craved.

When caught in the heat of the moment, quite literally, all you could think about was each other and the way your bodies would feel when they pressed together and made love.

You were stupid. So, so stupid. You should have been more careful. It may have taken two to tango, but this was more your fault than Finn’s.

Men weren’t exactly known to care much about safety, no matter if it was regarding violence or intimate relations.

You were the one who should have been more cautious, maybe not open your legs to him the second he came begging. God, you were such a whore. Such a filthy, easy whore, and now it had come back to haunt you.

You needed your parents. You needed to feel your mother’s arms around you, hear her voice whispering into your hair that everything was going to be alright, that you would all get through it by sticking together.

But you couldn’t. You couldn’t tell them, as they thought you had stopped seeing Finn months ago per their request, the two fearing for the safety of their daughter thanks to the line of work his entire family was involved in.

You hadn’t listened to them, of course. You were in love. Silly girl, you were.

The only time you could have gone to your parents, was if you were going to agree to get rid of it. The life growing inside of you.

But you had known, already before starting to be intimate with Finn, that if you should ever fall pregnant, you would never have the heart to get rid of the life you and him had created. It would absolutely crush you; just the thought of it did.

This was why you always stressed to him how important it was that you were careful, but he always waved it off, telling you not to worry, that the pullout method was safe. Of course he did, seeing as that’s what he honestly believed, his brothers having told it to him more times than he could count.

“If you pull out before you… you know, you won’t be knocking no girl up.”

Yeah, right. What a load of horsecrap.

You should have been more careful. You shouldn’t have opened your legs to him as easily as you did. You weren’t no common whore. But he was just so irresistible. So charming, so cheeky; and so immature.

And now you had to figure out a way to tell that immature boy that you were carrying his child.

You had never been as petrified in your life, as when the nurse had told you the news after you had sought help in the local hospital for the morning sickness that had been sticking with you for the past three weeks.

How had you not seen the signs? It was all there. The sickness, the moodswings, the sudden cravings for bread dipped in melted chocolate. The only thing that wasn’t there, was your period, which should have gotten your eyes open more than anything.

But no. You were just a naïve, silly little girl. Thankfully, your parents were just as naïve, looking past your sudden outbursts and growing appetite.

The second your foot stepped into the mud outside the hospital, your legs set off down the street, tears already freefalling down  your rosy cheeks and chest heaving up and down rapidly as you panicked.

The chilly air nipped at your skin and pulled at your clothes as you ran, forcing you to hug your coat tighter around your body.

You needed your mother, so bad. But you knew you couldn’t go there. You loved her, but when it came to getting her way, she could be a horribly nasty woman, and you knew for a certainty that she wouldn’t want you to keep the baby.

So, almost out of instinct, you opted for the second closest you had to a mother.

You didn’t even waste time to knock at the door before letting yourself into the small house, knowing that none of the Shelby brothers would be home as they were currently at the Garrison, Finn included.

As you rushed inside, you almost knocked over a vase, catching it just in time before it fell of the table it was standing on, but the sound of your leg knocking into the table was enough to draw out the attention of Polly, the woman coming rushing into the room only seconds later.

“What are you boys doing now, eh? What have I told you about making a m-“

She stopped in her tracks as her eyes landed on his nephew’s girlfriend.

You hadn’t seen any of the Shelbys for weeks, your parents having forbidden it. All of them knew, however, that you had still been seeing Finn behind their backs, the boy always sneaking out of the house when he thought they didn’t notice.

And as Polly hadn’t seen you in weeks, either, she instantly saw the difference in your appearance and understood what was wrong when her eyes roamed from your crying, panicked face, to your slightly swollen bosoms and stomach, putting two and two together without much struggle.

“Oh, shit.” She swore, not even trying to hide the frustration as she let out a sigh.

This, however, only caused you to grow even more panicked, reality really sinking in when seeing the disapproving and frustrated expression pulling over Polly’s face, breaking into a loud set of sobs as you slowly began sinking to the floor, back leaned against a wall.

Polly instantly sprung to action, running up to you and catching your body in her arms before you fell and hurt yourself, sinking with you to the floor.

“There, there.” She hushed you, stroking your hair and holding you tight as you pressed your face into her chest.

Your heart was beating faster than it ever had before, thumping so violently against your rib cage that it actually hurt. Or maybe the pain came from the lack of oxygen, as your face was pressed into Polly’s chest and sobs were shaking your body, not leaving any time for you to breath.

Noticing that you were completely out of it, hyperventilating, Polly adjusted your head so that you wouldn’t be suffocated by her dress anymore, stroking your back in a soothing manner.

“Breath, (Y/N). There’s a good girl. Breath.” She comforted, eyes staring into the wall in front of her as she held you. “Have you told your parents?” She questioned, noticing immediately that it was too soon, as you broke into another cry.

“No. I can’t. They’re going to disown me. They’re going to hate me. What if they make me get rid of it? I don’t want to get rid of it, Polly.”

Polly’s heart broke for the young girl. Despite knowing this was really not the time nor place to have a baby, especially not at such a young age, she knew all too well the feelings you must have been feeling in that moment, having been there more times herself than she would like to admit.

“You don���t have to worry about that, love.” She shushed you, rocking you back and forth gently. “You’re a Shelby now. Have been since you first waltzed in here on Finn’s arm and called John a man-whore. That’s a true fucking Shelby, right there.”

You let out a loud laugh at that, but the brief moment of happiness was gone just as quickly, the sobbing falling from your lips never ceasing.

“What if they want me to get rid of it? What if Finn does? You’ve seen how they’ve been pushing him around lately. He’s not the same as he was before. What if he leaves me? Oh God, he’s going to leave me, isn’t he? I don’t want this, Polly. Make it stop. Please, just make it stop.”

Polly hugged you closer to her chest as your crying intensified, letting out a sound of pity. “Oh, darling. He might not be the same shy boy that he was when you first met him, but that boy is absolutely head over heels for you. He would never leave you.”

But with the state you were currently in, her comforting words only went right out your head again. “He’s going to leave me. He’s going to leave me.” You kept chanting, voice growing quieter after the first few times as you cried.

You couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. Your hands were lying limp in your lap, shaking like the rest of your body as you kept sobbing in a way that would break even the coldest of hearts.

Ever since you were first introduced to the Shelby family by Finn, Polly had known you as the strong girl who never took any shit from anyone.

You were the girl who broke a man’s fingers when he tried to cup a feel, the girl who slapped Finn so hard he fell to the ground when he would step out of line during an argument and call you a bitch. You were the girl who wasn’t scared of Thomas Shelby, or anyone for that matter. The girl who mas more a Shelby than the actual Shelbys themselves.

Not once had she seen you break down like this before. You hadn’t shed a single tear when they had plucked a shard of glass from your back the year before, when you had gotten caught in the middle of a bar brawl. You hadn’t flinched when Tommy had tried frying you the first time you met the family.

The only time she had actually seen you cry, was the time you found out Finn’s brothers had arranged for him to lose his virginity to a whore, an offer you later found out he had denied out of love and loyalty to you. But even then, it hadn’t been close to this.

It was truly breaking her heart seeing you in such a state, forcing her to squeeze her eyes shut briefly as this whole situation just hit too close to home.

Before either of you could speak another word, however, the front door was slammed open only a few meters away from where you were sitting, loud laughter and yelling instantly filling the air.

Polly wasted no time in pulling you closer, trying to shield your face with her arm as you kept crying, barely even noticing their arrival despite the ruckus they brought with them.

“Out, the lot of you!” She yelled before they’d even noticed you, causing all of them to grow quiet upon entering, all of their eyes landing on your body shaking and sobbing in their aunt’s arms.

Finn, who had been the first to enter with Tommy at his side, instantly moved forward. “(Y/N)? Aunt Poll, what’s happened? (Y/N)?” His face grew panicked the second he laid eyes on his girlfriend, his every cell just screaming at him to go over and comfort her, hold her in his arms.

But before he could take another step forward, Tommy had grabbed ahold of his arm, trying to tug him back outside.

“Come on Finny boy, let’s go for a walk, eh?” He grabbed his neck, trying to turn him around, but although not even half as strong as his older brother, he managed to rip himself out of his grip with fast movements, and when John and Arthur also entered, catching sight of the crying girl, they practically threw the whole “leave”-idea out the window, instantly going into protective mode.

“What the ‘ell is goin’ on ‘ere?” Arthurs loud voice bellowed through the air, eyes turning furious at the sight of your state, looking between you and his aunt who only glared at him.

John stepped forward before Polly had even gotten a word in edgewise, however, already pulling a revolver out of the waistband of his trousers. “Who hurt her? What’s happened?

“I swear I will cut them. Whoever they are, whatever they’ve done.” Arthur joined in again, both of the boys pulling of their hats, razor blades in the ready.

By now, Finn had managed to get into the room, rushing over to his girlfriend’s side despite the harsh glare sent his way by his aunt, Tommy stepping forward, too. “What’s happened, aunt Poll? Is she hurt?”

“No, she’s not hurt, you daft idiot.” She snapped. “Everyone but Finn, out.”

No one made a move to leave, causing her to whip her head back to face them, and with a single look, they all went stumbling back out the door, hurrying to get away from their aunt’s wrath.

Once the front door was once again closed, protecting you from prying ears, Finn wasted no time in reaching out and touching your shoulder. “(Y/N)?”

But you just flinched, holding on to Poll for dear life as they made a silent attempt to transfer you into his arms. You didn’t want to look at him. You didn’t want him to look at you. Not in the state you were currently in.

Finn sadly pulled back his hand, heartbroken about the way you had flinched away from his touch. You never did that. You always let him hold you in your times of need. So what was different this time?

Polly gave him a look. “She’s pregnant, Finn. I thought I told you not to fool around, you stupid boy.” She scolded him, scoffing disapprovingly, which only made you cry harder, causing her to sigh.

All color was drained from Finn’s face at her words, feeling as if the blood froze to ice in his veins. “But I- I-“

“Pulled out?” Polly raised an eyebrow, getting her answer when Finn’s cheeks flushed red. “You don’t honestly believe it’s that simple, do you? Just look at your brother for fuck’s sake. He had four children before he even turned twenty.”

“I-“ He was speechless, eyes wide with fear and panic, the feeling you were currently feeling slowly creeping up on him too.

Polly looked down at you quickly, mumbling into your hair. “You have to talk to him, darling. It’ll be alright. You’ll see. Come on.” She mumbled so that only she could hear, and finally, you let go of her and let her pass you over to Finn, who wasted no time in taking you into his arms.

As Polly stood up and slipped out of the house, grabbing her coat on the way and without a doubt going to tell his brothers about the news, you simply sobbed into Finn’s chest.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Finn. Please don’t leave me.”

He held you close to his chest, heart thundering with panic, but keeping the calm front for your sake. “I would never leave you, love. We can just get rid of it, right? It will be as if nothing ever happened.”

You hurried to push away from him at that, at this point not even caring if he saw your tear streaked face. “That’s just the thing, though, innit, Finn?” You yelled, crying. “I don’t want to get rid of it. You know I would never do that.”

He flinched at the crack in your voice and the sight of your red, swollen eyes. His hands automatically went out to cradle your cheeks, the guilt already forming inside him. “I know, I know. I don’t know why I said that. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want to get rid of it, Finn. Please don’t make me.” You cried, slowly sinking back into his embrace.

“I won’t.” He assured you shakily. “I promise I won’t.”

You sobbed, hand instinctively going to your belly. “How are we going to do this? We’re only seventeen. I can’t even cook properly without burning the house down. How am I going to take care of a baby?”

He chuckled carefully, bringing your face up to his and gazing at you softly. “I’ll do the cooking then, yeah?” He used his thumb to wipe away the tears running down your cheeks, but they just kept coming, causing him to frown. “Please, don’t cry.”

“I’m sorry.” You sobbed again, squeezing your eyes shut in a desperate attempt to stop crying, but you couldn’t, the panic once again rising up inside of you. “I’m just so scared. I don’t want you to leave me. I l love you so much.”

“Look at me.” He ordered, to which you only shook your head, trying to look to the side. He repeated himself and used his hands to turn your head back to face him, putting his forehead against yours. “I would never leave you, you hear me? You’re my everything. The only one who keeps me sane. We’ll get through this together, alright?”

You sobbed, nodding slowly.

“Say it, (Y/N). Let me know you understand.”

Nodding again, you spoke shakily. “We’ll get through it. Together.”

“That’s right.” He offered you a smile, nodding his head. “I’ll never leave you.” He repeated, pulling you back into his chest, the two of you just sitting there in silence after that, the only sound in the house being your sobbing as he let you cry the panic out, his arms holding you close to him the entire time.

And that’s how you knew you were going to be alright; as long as you stuck together, like Shelbys always had.

[theyanderespecialist]

25 Days Of Christmas 13/25 Christmas Special 2 (One Shot) SCP 2030 X OC Marie

(Laughy's pov)

I smiled down at her as she wanted as she gave a frustrated groan as she shifted. There was something so beautiful about it..I suppose that this would be the perfect time for others to watch.

She just looked so beautiful laying there, chest heaving, body shaking as her face was red from laughing so much. No one in all my years, made me feel this way, I couldn't let her go now could I? No I couldn't. I was going to make her mine. In every sense of the way. I walk over just looking at her, looking at her in such an outfit that she never would have worn had I not made her.

"P-Please..don't just stare.." she said, her voice was so soft.. shy.. pleading. "You ca-can do more than look,..."

I nodded and lit a candle making her look at me confused I also got a peacock feather she got from the zoo.

"Now what to do with you~" I tease stroking it down her arm.

(you're lucky she washed that feather there could be diseases xD)

(XD)

She shuddered at that squirming at the feeling of the feather brushing down her skin as goosebumps form on her arm as her breathing once again hitched in excitement. He traced it up her leg and then to her core. She jerked at that as she let out a moan before I stop as my eye caught an eye mask on the side of her bed as I reach other as I hold it before putting it on her.

"Wh-what are you--"

"shh.. just focus on the feeling." I said as I resumed to trace the feather to her core.

She cried out and her thighs shake. I smile at that as I kept going as her hips thrust upward as she was probably feeling it ten fold as she shook more.

"I-I can't hold back!" She said, her hands turning to fists in her binds

She came hard the feather getting drenched in cum. She panted as I pulled it back as I smiled placing it on the bed still in shot as she seemed to relax as I smirk. The more I watch her and think of the others watching her like this, and seeing I was the one making her like this, the more excited I got.

I grab the candle as I pull the top down as she gasped and squirmed before letting out a Yelp when the wax fell on her breast. I smirked and did it. It was not hot enough to burn but also enough to make her stimulated. I wasn't going to pour boiling hot wax on her. She would flinch and let out soft whimpers, not of pain though. I smirked and then dropped one smallest drop of wax on her clit and she came again even harder than the last time.

(WARNING THIS IS BDSM AND THERE ARE SAFE WAXES TO USE IN THE BDSM DO NOT JUST TAKE YOUR SCENTED CADLE AND TRY THIS THAT IS NOT SAFE!!!)

(yeah there are candles that have a wax that drips at a lower heat)

(and look a lot of people class bdsm as torture. While there is a sub genre of machochist and sadism that does use sexual torture extensivel, a large part is about trust and boundaries. This is one example of asking to have the eye mask removed for the first time It's about compromise and figuring out the limits and testing those limits. Basically..sex in general)

(Yes it is a kink and trust is important if someone is using bdsm as a excuse to control you without your consent and a lot of manipulation (fifty shades of grey) then that is abuse and torture. A real bdsm relationship is built on trust love and respect)

(Here is actually proven things that happen in a abusive relationship that people say is okay because it is their "Kink" Woman (Or man) gets abused Then gets gifts like flowers (Ir in fifty shades of grey a house) then abused again and more gifts. Also a lot of people who want to control them will put a baby in you without your consent and make you keep it (Again fifty shades of grey) BOTTOM LINE FIFTY SHADES OF GREY IS ABUSIVE AND NOT BDSM RELATIONSHIP)

I smirked before looking at the camera for the first time as I smirk standing over her. I couldn't wait any longer as I ripped the dress off fully as she cried out. "W-What are you doing now?!"

"Taking you fully.--"

"W-wait! P-please.. can ..can you take the blindfold off? I... haven't had sex before ..I don't want to be in darkness when it happens.." she said softly.

I nodded and removed the mask and kiss her to reassure her. She kissed back but I could tell she was scared as she nudged her face into my neck.

"It's okay. Just take a deep breath.. and laugh okay?" I said as I pull my own pants down as she whimpered.

I take it slowly on pushing the tip in and letting her laugh it out most of the stress of something inside her the first time.

It was hard, seeing her cry but I knew she wasn't regretting it, shed tell me. I know she would. I still waiting for her as she clung to me with her legs.

"You want me to untie your arms so you can hold onto me properly?"

She nodded her head and I untie her and she instantly lings to me and grips me tight. I smiled and wiped her tears as I look at her and take one of her hands in mine as we waited, with me kissing her hand while waiting.

".." there seemed to be something she was red to say. "What is it?"

"...I ..I need you to pull out before you finish..I-I'm not on the pill." She said.

I froze for a second and knew I would NOT pull out I wanted a baby with her and I would say it was an accident.

(Okay like I said a bit ago yeah this is not healthy and he is controlling the choice but I NEVER said yanderes are healthy they are not this is fiction to enjoy in stories and not do in real life. Again fiction just for fun not for practice. I do not support manipulation or yandere tendencies.)

(and she is thinking it's a dream and the calming effect of 2030 really is helping him now)

(mmm hmmm)

She looked at me. "I-It's not that I don't want children..but I want to be one hundred percent sure that the father is just as committed and that the children have somewhere safe to live." She said softly looking at me

"They will I promise you, and I am. I want a family with you and want to marry you if I could I would do it right now." I tell her smiling with true love.

She looked at me shocked as she was about to speak before I didn't test thrust as she softly moaned. She wrapped her legs around me pulling me the rest of the way in and moaning loudly and in need. I smile at that as my breathing got Shakey. God..it felt so good. Why haven't I done any of this myself before?

"Y-You.. feel so good..~" she said softly as I felt my heart pound at that praise

“All for you~~” I purr

I liked it when. She praises me~ and she knew. She must have because she kept saying how I made her feel, how she liked the way I teaser her. It spurred me on making me feel so close. I held her close as I panted and start to thrust into her more as she cried out before I change positions. I wanted her to be seen, no better position than on top for that to happen. She gasped and put her hands on my chest to steady herself. She sat there for a second trying to get used to the new position before she slowly moved, looking at me like she was waiting for a sign of approval.

"Your doing so good beautiful~" I say and lean up kissing her. "Just like that~"

She smiled at me appreciating the feedback as she would lift herself up before sinking down and grinding her hips as I moan. "I-it might be easier if you don't clench down so hard." I said as she suddenly looked confused.

"But.. im not clenching?"

I blushed darkly and pulled her into a kiss and she kisses back. She is just that tight. If she did clench (She just pop that dick off XD) I don't think we could move.

(XD)

(XD)

(xD she's doing everything he did

She held me as I felt her clench down as I let out a Shakey moan. "That's what it's like if I clench it. Does that feel okay?"

"Oh God~Yes~!" I moaned if she kept that up I cum for sure.

However she suddenly stopped, just sitting atop me. "What? Why'd you stop?" I asked as she smiled. Consider it a punishment for not addressing those flowers to me." She teased.

She then started to tickle me and I laughed and she did it for so long I was rock hard. She then tied me up and started to ride me again slowly though.

(Oh How have the table have turned XD)

(xD she's doing everything he did)

(XD Yup getting ready for wax on your dick XD Jk or am I XD)

She rode me harder and faster as I can tell we are both getting close she then pulled out half way and took the candle and add one drop onto my dick and I came hard and she came as well falling on top of me.

(I was not kidding XD)

I got out of my bonds and snuggled her. "Merry Christmas." I say just as she falls asleep and I carried her off. Time to take her home.

(2 hours later)

(No One's POV)

"Hey Marie! Forgot my keys for my house, duh!" Her friend called out not getting a response as she looked around confused seeing cookies left on a tray untouched.

"Marie?" She called out. Was she sleeping? She sighed and walked into the bedroom.

Inside she found a mess like a good fucking was taken place here and a DVD. What the hell happen? She picked it up seeing a picture of Marie from behind unaware with the title 'christmas special.' She put it on and what she saw shocked her. There was no way that was her friend.. doing that kind of stuff.. and there was no way she would let that be filmed. Something was not okay she called the police right away.

[clockworkkwritesstuff]

RÛNÊN Review

Once again, I firmly believe that Anne has outdone herself with her collection of stories, illustrations, and comics featured in RÛNÊN. I’ll begin by saying how struck I am by the composition of the book itself- It begins with the definition of the title, meaning ‘to whisper’, which strikes me as extremely fitting for these short stories as they are very much the whispered desires of our main heroes. Perhaps I’ve said this before, but Anne has a real knack for gripping readers with her titles, perfectly outlining the content of the book with one word or phrase. This one particularly reminded me very much of a song I love, ‘Undisclosed Desires’ by Muse, as that’s precisely what RÛNÊN is, a series of undisclosed desires. Following the beautifully chosen title, Anne provides a timeline of all the events in relation to the main story, which is a simple addition but an incredible enhancement to give a little more context to what you’re about to read. Thank you very much, Anne, for ensuring we are all kept up to speed with where exactly we are in the story. Having read other collections like this, getting a more exclusive ‘behind the scenes’ can be a little hard to follow when it’s left up to JUST context clues. This was very helpful and the placement of all these stories gives another crucial detail; Embry and Kuo were seriously just on their toes around each other for way too long.

What I also particularly love about these additional tales is the backstory and context it provides regarding the weird and wonderful world Anne has created as the setting. Gimma, like other fantasy settings I adore, is very built and developed, with its own traditions and festivals, its collection of laws and unique vibe to it. In fact, I’ve drawn similarities between the feel of Gimma and the vibes around where I currently live- for instance there’s a huge manor house that’s a few hundred years old, not far from that is a small bar that’s interior is decorated like an old tavern, and there’s at least one traditional event every month – the whole place is both diverse and close-knit, which is the same kind of strong feeling I get while reading about Gimma. Whether this was Anne’s intention or not, I do like it very much! Fantasy stories like Bound where the background and main setting it entirely up to the author partially rely on the context that can be given about said mystical setting – they need to match after all, otherwise we risk the worldbuilding being inconsistent. Let me just say how perfectly built Gimma is. I want to attend a Lenten Feast!!

Now, without giving too much away, I am living for these little pre-contract stories about Embry and Kuo. I am a sucker for awkward relationship stories, and these two are redefining exactly what that means. The line that separated them has been blurred for ages, perfectly shown in Anne’s storytelling by the way, but I also have a strange fascination with just how much Berrin was on thin ice! How has the ice not broken yet? Well somewhere along the line Embry had decided to hold him up (theoretically, of course) and things were so damn close to disaster for both of them that a line had to be drawn. Can anybody else say relatable? Have you seen a relationship like this before? I’m sure we all have, and yes, this period of their relationship paints Berrin as a little dick, we have to acknowledge that falling into this kind of toxicity is also just a human mistake. Even in relation to the main story, I am so curious about this character and how he’s holding up, seeing his interactions with our main duo and how he responds to seeing his old mage getting all heated over Mr.StealYourMan! Damn, Anne, really knows how to flip my feeling on its head when it comes to her characters! There’s plenty of focus on our main pair, but not so much that they have to carry the story alone, there are other people in this world that she’s created and clearly Anne is an expert at making every single one of them perfectly human (I’ve struggled with my own writing in the past. I am living for these character-building stories!)

There’s something so funny about the friendship between Kuo and Benji, they make me feel amused every time, not to mention Benji reminds me of one of my closest friends. Another character I love, please protect Benji!

I still adore Aik so damn much. Thanks, Anne, for the Aik content! Did I mention that RÛNÊN was R18? Yeah, THANK YOU FOR THE AIK CONTENT!!!!

So, here’s where I make a bit of a confession; cheesy romances where the main pairing is just naturally drawn together for no reason? That bothers me. It’s too convenient, unrealistic, overdone, nonsensical, AND YET Anne does it well. There IS a reason for Embry and Kuo to be drawn together, to have the strong connection that they do, and it is presented in a way that makes sense. This is a world where sparks literally seek one another out and try to connect with their mage or page counterpart, and in order for it to work out, they need to be evenly matched and evenly powerful. From the beginning, this has been clear and a well-flowing explanation as to why they always seem to find one another. It’s far easier to accept this idea when it’s justified, which is done through the background and the context of the story being in a world of magic, once again earning Anne more points for developing Gimma so well!

On another note, I love that Embry’s response to jealousy isn’t to lash out and attack someone like so many other cheesy romances… at least not that would actually hurt someone (I do pray for Aik’s tastebuds, sour milk is disgusting) and he remains a bit of a goof about it. More drunk mage content, please XD On this note, how can something like stitching the back of your drunk (boy)friend’s tunic be made so innocent and romantic at once?

I love how Kuo started off as (in Anne’s own words) an emotional cactus, but can also be a smug, mischievous, little tease. It’s his feisty nature breaking through wonderfully, trying to keep his distance but sometimes just being unable to resist being his old self. This, followed by the fumbling awkwardness of them both being dorks, just gives me so many more reasons to love Kuo as a character.

Anne doesn’t fall into the trap of the main couples’ personalities being purely reliant on one another. Kuo’s personality isn’t reduced to how much he likes Embry. Embry’s personality isn’t reduced to how much he liked Kuo. They’re very distinct characters that are perfectly capable of being interesting by themselves without falling flat on their faces. Oh how I adore these characters.

The way these two keep getting interrupted reminds me of living in my flat at university. Let’s not forget that Embry and Kuo live with many other pages and mages alike, and the constant cock-blocking just keeps giving them reasons to perform this same song and dance of trying to abstain. I am frustrated for them, but this all works in their favour because when things finally go how they want, it’s all the more satisfying for the reader (and the boys, no doubt about that).

So when it’s not a concern anymore and they’ve managed to get this far, on my god, we get to see more feisty Kuo, more dorky Embry, and what’s more, switchy boys, it’s a wonderful time we’re living in!

My final word is coming back to Anne’s art more than her writing, and I’ve deliberately put it off until now so that I could talk about it in its own segment. Holy hell, I would pay this woman to give me lessons if I had the money (if you ever get the chance to offer a course, hit me up, I’ll save my finds for years!). On one hand, the black and white pieces dotted around are beautiful in their own sense. All pieces have their own atmosphere, but with no colours to work with, you’re left with shadows, poses, and expressions. Every single one, from start to end, has it’s own strong feeling to it. There’s an eerie confusion, then there’s pure comfort, but also that beautiful, heated and flustered feeling too! Side note, I adore how Anne still makes the blushes pink and red when the rest of the image is black and white. Similar to how I like it when eyes are coloured in a black and white picture, it looks so lovely and adds to the original without stealing all the attention. And the coloured content? Anne uses one of the most gorgeous colour palettes I’ve ever seen. Naturally certain tones are used for ambiance to a coloured piece of work, but at the same time, the characters have such lovely diverse palettes that are so perfectly arranged so that, once again, there isn’t just one, glaring shade that steals the attention from the rest of the piece. I challenge anyone to find a piece of Anne’s art that you don’t think looks fantastic. Even the sketches included at the end of the book are wonderful to look at. This entire collection is delicious eye candy. I must say, there’s a piece included of Eva and Carla that is striking to me. I absolutely adore it.

Thank you for this book, Anne. Thank you for its content, for all your hard work in compiling it, and you have my support for the world of Bound. And to finish off… Thank you for the Aik content XP

[fandom-necromancer]

601. If you kill them, you’d better kill me too, because otherwise I’m going to kill you.

This was prompted by the awesome @smolandangry001! Thank you so much for the prompt, this has gotten a bit longer than the normal stories but it actually has story, not just fluff or angst XD Enjoy!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900 (Warnings: Undercover mission gone wrong, kidnapping, violence, offscreen mentioned torture)

‘Nines! Anderson! Connor!’ RK900 looked up from his screen towards Fowlers office. What could possibly have happened for him to be called up there? And why him and the others? The only times Fowler had called him it was because and together with Gavin, something that was impossible now. The man had been on an undercover mission for three months now and one would have thought he had adjusted to him missing in the workplace and in their flat. But no, the void space opposite to him and at home felt weird and even hurt sometimes. He missed his partner dearly. He missed the man’s rare moments of cuteness, the little sweet things he did for him and the habits Nines had developed to return them. He missed their fights, their snarky comments and most of all he missed someone having his back and someone to care for. Sure, he had their cats at home and whenever it was safe, Gavin contacted him via a special chat-program, Nines had written and installed on his phone. They still were in contact relatively regular, but it just wasn’t the same.

The android got up from his seat and followed Connor and Hank into the office. Fowler stood up as soon as he entered, coming around his desk and laid a hand on his upper arm. This wasn’t good and immediately Nines tensed and felt his LED glowing red in his temple. ‘Nines, I… This isn’t good, okay, but I need you to stay calm. We will take action. We will do everything we can. But we have to plan beforehand to make it work.’ Yeah, this wasn’t good at all. ‘What is it?’ Nines forced himself to not let it show how panicked he was. This was something about Gavin, it had to be. But, oh, how he wished it wasn’t. The Captain leaned back to turn his screen and immediately Nines’ analysis-software went haywire.

The screen showed a paused video. Some figure sat slumped down on a chair, held up only by ropes around legs, chest, arms and throat. It was a bit blurry, but the clothing matched Gavin’s. Still, there was a 0.2% chance they were just wearing similar clothing and it all was just coincidence. He held onto that calculation. Fowler sighed and hit the spacebar letting the video continue.

“Hello, fellow boys in blue out there!” The voice was distorted heavily, but Nines was already trying to restore it. “Didn’t think we would find your man, huh?” There was laughing and Nines immediately knew he hated the idiot behind the mic more than anyone else he had ever met. “Well, maybe next time find someone who has less qualms and a more polite mouth.” The words were emphasized by a clangourous slap across the chained man’s face, that let their head bounce back, so the camera could get a good picture. Nines had been about to step forward in an useless attempt to stop the person who hurt the man. The 0.2% quickly dropped to zero. This was Gavin. This was his partner, his friend, his- Gavin woke up from whatever it was that had him hang in the ropes and shifted with a painful grimace. ‘No.’ Nines had whispered it, but the room was dead silent. “I don’t know what to do with him yet, so maybe you could help me? I could kill your friend here, but I think he could be useful still. We demand a school bus. And a safe passage out of this state. Once we left, you get your idiot back, how does that sound, huh?” Only as his artificial skin retracted Nines realised how hard he had pressed his hands into fists. Everything in him screamed to run, to help, to do anything. “Two am. Monday. Location is attached. No tricks. I won’t hesitate to play with him a little, so if you want him alive and in one piece, better do as we said.”

The video stopped and restarted as they watched it again and again, Nines fixed on his love in that chair, wincing every time they hit Gavin. It was Hank, who reached over and stopped it, speaking slowly and low. ‘I think that’s enough. What do we do?’ Nines was still staring at the screen, at the clearly visible bruises and the ropes that dug into his skin, and his combat profile rose up. What do we do? We run. We find Gavin, we free Gavin, we kill anyone who stand in our way. That was what the soldier said. And that was what he wanted.

‘Connor!’ As Fowler cried out the order, Nines was already flying out of the door and down the bullpen, before the other RK unit could throw himself at him and stop him. ‘Nines, stop! Don’t do this!’ ‘They have Gavin!’, Nines hissed against the floor he was laying on and pressed against the weight of the other android on top of him. ‘What would you do would they have the Lieutenant?’ ‘I know. But you can’t just run out there without a plan. We will do our best to safe him.’ ‘Your best is not enough, Connor. You are an obsolete model saved by deviancy. Your careful planning and rational actions will get him killed!’ He didn’t want to be so cruel, but he had to go, he had to help his partner! ‘Nines, I agree. That’s why we need your power on the team, not wasted!’

Nines went lax. Still everything told him to follow his prime directive and the soldier wasn’t about to back down. But he knew he couldn’t and wouldn’t fight against his brother. As he was sure Nines wouldn’t try anything, he let go. ‘Okay, calm down. You will get him back faster than you can think. I promise. Concentrate on the case at hand, okay?’ ‘Okay.’ ‘Good. First of all we have to find out where he is.’ ‘I already know that.’ Nines was still bouncing to let this spiel fall and run. ‘What? How?’ ‘I sort of programmed a form of a pseudo-android-network on his phone. Until three hours ago I know exactly where his phone was. And if they demand a bus, I don’t think they want to leave now.’ ‘Good. Where?’ ‘A house in the suburbs. Still marked as vacant since a family left during the revolution.’ ‘Do you have a building plan?’ ‘Of course I have, Connor, I would be far quicker had I just already gone!’ ‘But do you know how many there are? What weapons? No. I figured. Stay here. It won’t help Gavin when you are killed trying to save him.’ ‘Fine.’

 Nines played along precisely long enough for his shift to end. ‘I’m off, Connor. See you tomorrow.’ ‘Nines. Where are you going?’ ‘Home. The cats need to be fed.’ ‘Are you sure? Don’t lie to me.’ ‘This isn’t a lie.’ ‘Good. Then stay safe.’

It wasn’t a lie. He did drive home and fed the cats. Even cuddled a bit, just in case. But then he left. There was no way he was sitting around doing nothing, when Gavin was hurt and in possible danger. Who knew what these criminals would do to a police officer. Maybe they would stay true to their promise and care enough to let him stay alive. But that didn’t equal unharmed.

He was quick to be back outside again and stopped in his tracks as he found Connor leaned against Gavin’s car. He sighed. ‘I hope you are not here to stop me.’ ‘I don’t think I would be able to if I tried. I got you by surprise, but I am no match for you being the obsolete one.’ ‘I’m sorry, Connor, I really am. But I’m worried. If something happened to him… I- I wouldn’t-‘ ‘Don’t. I know what you feel. I would do the same for Hank. That’s why I came.’ ‘You won’t stop me.’ ‘I didn’t come to stop you. I want to help you. It’s the least I can do for my brother.’ ‘Thank you. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.’ Connor already entered the passenger side. ‘Try not to kill anyone, that would be enough.’

Nines speeded across town on the fastest route there was. ‘What do we tell the precinct once we have him?’, Nines asked. ‘I wanted to take you somewhere to keep you from running to Gavin’s rescue. Then we happened to come across some illegal activity and coincidentally this was the house Gavin is kept captive in.’ ‘They won’t believe that.’ ‘They can’t prove it either.’ ‘Anderson knows of this?’ ‘I left him a note. He’ll understand.’

They parked the car a few blocks away and got out. Nines dropped his Cyberlife jacket in the car. It was already dark, so he would blend in with his black turtleneck and trousers. ‘I can make out three persons in the front, you see anything else?’ ‘Three in the front. There is a laptop I could try hacking. Not sure if they would notice.’ ‘What about the phone? You said you built an android network?’ Nines nodded. It basically felt like an extended part of him now. ‘I’ll try to access it.’ His LED spun yellow for a few seconds. ‘front camera is dark, back camera shows a lamp on a ceiling.’ ‘All the lights upstairs are off. A cellar?’ ‘Yes. There is one. No outdoor access, there is a stair down.’

They came nearer and hid in the neighbour’s bushes. ‘There is a window’, Connor pointed out and Nines zoomed in on it. ‘Possible entrance. But they might notice. It’s closed.’ Connor smiled. ‘But it is a digital log. I can hack it. The whole house is connected to a central processing AI. I could try and hack it, while you scout around the place. You get in, get Gavin and come back, I’ll distract them. Sounds like a plan?’ Nines nodded. He crawled out of the bush, while Connor’s eyes started to flutter. Not much more time passed, and the window opened silently. Nines stuck his head into the space and scanned the place. The window led into some empty broom closet. He signed Connor an okay and squeezed himself through. He barely hadn’t made it as his frame was designed broader than most humans. But he made it and pulled up the floorplan in his HUD. Outside the door was a narrow hallway leading to a single room intended for storage. Most likely the place they kept Gavin in. He fetched some duct tape from a shelf and ripped off a piece to cover his LED, then made way for the door. From the heat signatures, there are two persons outside, Connor sent him over their wireless connection. I’ll create a distraction upstairs. Maybe that will get them out. Nines waited, until he heard a scream from upstairs. What did you do?, Nines asked. Someone was dumb enough to sit on the stove. Nines grinned. Weren’t you the one who said no person harmed? No person killed, was his answer.

Nines waited some more. Any movement on our two guards? Can you see Gavin? Still there. And yes, he is in the next room. I’ll try something else. Nines saw the flicker of light under the door. Soon enough footsteps. Nines pressed himself against the door until the person was right in front of it, then he opened it and put his whole strength into the blow. The door smashed into the man’s face, Nines took him by the collar and yanked him inside the closet, closing the door again and making sure the idiot was unconscious. Then he used his duct tape to gag and handcuff him and let him drop to the floor. One out, he reported. One left. She has heard the commotion. Is coming towards the door. There is an 87% chance she’ll open it. Nines nodded although Connor couldn’t see him and pressed himself to the adjacent wall. There were footsteps again. Then there was light, as the door opened. Nines waited until the woman entered, then grabbed her back and throwed her against the wall and preparing her just like the other guard. Now the way was free. Gavin was nearly safe!

Nines jumped out, ready to run towards his partner. Nines, stop, there is another heat signature there is- He saw him. Standing behind Gavin, smiling devilishly at him, was a well-dressed man, holding a gun to his head. ‘I told you no tricks. I knew you would come. And I’ll tell you what you’ll do now: Go back out and maybe I won’t kill him.’ ‘If you kill him, you’d better kill me too, because otherwise I’m going to kill you’, Nines growled low. ‘Please, no one has to die here. Just go, get your boss to get us that bus and no one will be harmed.’ ‘Oh, but maybe I want to see you harmed?’, Nines hissed. ‘I’m not sure you know my model, but you would either be fast enough to kill him or to save yourself by shooting me. If you kill him, you are dead. If you let him live, there is no need for me to kill you. So, what is more important to you? Proving a point or continue to live?’ Switch off the lights, Connor!

In pitch darkness there was a shot. Then a clatter. Back on!

Nines was on top of the asshole that had threatened his partner, who was holding his bloodied, cleanly shot through hand. Nines didn’t hesitate to punch the man over and over again, until he was unconscious. And then, for good measure, again. After that, there were more important things.

Gavin had been gagged since the video and was barely awake. There was blood on his face, bruises all over and red marks from the ropes around his throat. Nines couldn’t be fast enough to untie him and catch him as he fell towards the ground. ‘Gavin! Gavin, I’m here! You hear me? All is good, we are going home. You are safe!’ Are we safe? This was Fowlers plan. They arrived a few minutes after you entered as backup and are now cleaning up the upper storeys. I needed distractions after the stove. Stay there. Ambulance on its way.

Nines exhaled heavily and pressed Gavin to his chest. He was safe and with him and nothing else mattered.

[tentoriwrites]

Voltage Otome Trope Bingo #1

Eons ago @hifftn​ came up with this idea to do Trope Bingo for the various Voltage fandoms. I finally finished my first piece! Circled in blue below you will see the tropes featured in this fanfic!  2,600+ words of pure indulgence with only a vague touch of plot to keep it from being too cluttered! XD Also, sorry about Atlas being a bit OOC, I haven’t really read his route in like a year now... ^_^;

“You’re the only person I know that sprains their ankle running in a straight line on level ground!” Atlas shouted as he looked over the park planter to eye our assailants. A hail of bullets ricocheted off the planter throwing up sparks and chips of concrete. He immediately ducked back down.

“To my credit, I was being shot at!” I quipped back fearfully as I clutched my throbbing ankle.

“Which makes the running in a straight line bit EVEN better.” He grumbled as he checked his ammunition.

“Well... some of us aren’t used to being shot at every day!”

“Only every other day…”

“HEY!” It’s not like I wanted to be a criminal… I pouted for a brief moment until I felt the ground rumbling. I looked around in horror as I saw everyone rushing to clear the streets. Even our assailants were booking it out of Dodge.

“What’s going on?” Atlas looked around in disbelief.

“Oh stars…” It occurred to me then what planet we were on. “Atlas… We need to get inside!”

“Yeah, like I’m just going to sit on my hands and wait for them to come back!” He was already on his feet offering me a hand.

“You don’t understand you should just leave me here!” I took his hand and gave him a quick shove towards a nearby laundry once I was upright.

Atlas let out a long suffering sigh before hefting me into his arms bridal style. “Would you make yourself useful and shut up!” He took off at a pace much faster than I imagined he could while carrying so much physical and emotional baggage around. The closer we got to the door, the more the rumbling intensified. A good Samaritan threw the door open and yanked us in. Without explanation, they slammed it shut and hit a switch on the wall. Heavy sounding metal plates slid down and locked firmly into place.

“You just made it!” An old woman standing near a basin of sudsy water chimed over the intensifying rumble. She pulled the plug to drain the water. “Another moment or two longer and you would have been cooked!” The nonchalant way she said that last line was deeply unsettling…

“Is anyone going to tell me what’s going on here or do you just expect me to hack into the Union database and figure out?” Atlas huffed as he finally put me back on my feet.

The old woman eyed me a moment when I winced.

“This whole planet is covered in huge underground springs.” I pulled out my tablet and showed him a geologic map of the area. “This town is right next to one of the largest. It’s famous throughout the Union for going off once a month and spews millions of gallons of super-heated water into the air.”

“Darn right, Missy!” The old woman interjected as everyone started looking up to the ceiling. The rumbling had stopped. Suddenly, it felt like the whole world was splitting in two just before the deluge. A deafening roar of water filled the air and vibrated the building in a wholly different way than before.  The old woman met my anxiety driven expression with a serene smile. “I built this place specially to harness the mineral water and turn it into a luxury hot spring!”

Atlas and I both looked around dubious of that comment. The laundry was small, cramped, and extremely dirty. The old woman seemed to pick up on this immediately, donning a huge grin. “Follow me…”

Atlas and I both looked at each other.

“That wasn’t a request…” Her sweet old woman demeanor dropped in an instant as she shot us a death glare from the doorway.

“Listen lady.” Atlas started to give her a piece of his mind.

“I assure you, criminal, I’m no lady.” A devious smile crept across her lips as everyone in the laundry pulled out guns and aimed them at us.

My heart hammered in my chest as I eyed the still locked doors and windows. My mind was trying desperately to figure out if I could hack into the system with my tablet.

“We’re all criminals like you!” The old man chimed very pleased with herself. “Hate those Union bastards! So any enemy of theirs is a friend of mine. Come on now and have a nice soak. It’ll fix that ankle right up!”

“It’s not like we can really leave right now…” Atlas vaguely motioned to the windows on one side of the building.

“Even if I lifted the metal plates you still couldn’t waltz out there right now anyways.” The old woman started tottering down a hall.

“The water has to drain and the surface has to cool down.” I explained as I glanced at Atlas.

“Guess we really have no choice then…” Atlas holstered his gun and started for the door. He offered me a hand when he noticed me hopping along awkwardly.

The old woman was standing in the middle of a lavish, wide hall. It looked like we had stepped into a whole other world. “Nice, no?” She grinned wide as she pulled out a key ring. Pulling a key out immediately, she unlocked the door in front of her. “Have a nice rest, on the house. Once everything settles down, you can give those Unions idiots the slip.” She seemed pretty genuine in the offer, but Atlas still gripped my hand tightly.

“Give me one good reason why we should trust you.”

The old woman laughed long and hard. “We clean a lot of things here for a lot of people, Sonny. Including items for people very much opposed to the Union. You’re in good hands.” She donned a cheesy smile and stuck out her pinkie. “I promise.”

“A pinkie promise is pretty serious.”

“You have got to be kidding me…” Atlas smacked his forehead.

“Well say what you want but I take them very seriously!” I hobbled over to the old woman and linked my pinkie with hers.

“Atta girl!” She shook her hand up and down while our pinkies were still locked. Then she shoved the door open revealing the most lavish room I had ever seen. “I’ll have some food brought by soon, enjoy the bath in the meantime!” With that she tottered away leaving me to ogle the room.

Atlas finally joined me at the door, but he seemed just as dumbfounded as me. After a long moment of stunned silence, he muttered under his breath. “Smugglers…” A faint smile he took a tentative step into the room. “Well they definitely aren’t going to bring the Union here…”

“Well that’s a relief…” I wandered in behind him and closed the door. The whole room was full of rich and plush fabrics from the blankets on the bed to the upholstery on the furniture. I sank into an over-sized chair and sighed in satisfaction. “This is nice…”

“Yeah but where is this bath?” Atlas very cautiously opened the only other door in the room. “That’s not a bath…”

“What is it?” I sat up and craned my neck to look into the room.

“A damn swimming pool…”

I knew I looked completely confused as I got up and walked up behind him. Swimming pool was an exaggeration but it was definitely not a bath tub. 5 or 6 people could comfortably sit in the steaming water.

“That looks wonderful…”

“Then get in.” Atlas started to move to leave. He must have seen the pout on my face because he stopped and faced me. He was so close I could feel his breath on my face. “You look like you have something to say…” Even though his voice had a gruff edge there was a fire in his eyes.

“Well…” My eyes darted to the pooltub as I scrambled for an excuse to get him to join me. “I was just thinking I might need some help getting in and out. What if I slip and get hurt even worse?” Yes play to your strengths! Even if those strengths include being a total klutz…

Atlas rolled his eyes as if he were completely put off by the whole thing. “Fine, fine…” He offered me his hand again. “It’d be a pain in the pass if I had to carry you all the way back to the ship.”

SCORE!

I sat down on a chair near the “bath” and started taking my jacket off. I looked over and Atlas was on the complete opposite side of the room taking his jacket off. Well he did agree to take a bath with me so I guess I can’t be too mad. Except he stopped after taking off his jacket…

“I thought you were going to take a bath too…”

He gave me a smug look. “I said I would help you in and out. I never said I was taking one with you.”

Not… technically… wrong… I sighed inwardly before taking off the rest of my clothes. Gentleman that he was, Atlas didn’t look the whole time. Which filled me with one part relief, one part odd disappointment. With a towel wrapped around me, told him I was ready.

I took the hand he offered me and a ginger stepped to the edge of the bath. Just as I was about to step in, a sharp pain in my ankle made me jump. Small though it may have been, it was enough to make me slip and start falling. I watched as the water seemed to come ever closer, in slow motion, that is until something completely different filled my vision. After the water cleared, I realized that Atlas had broke my fall and was now blowing bubbles at me from under the water. As if in a horror movie with one jump scare after another, the towel lazily floated between us…

“Sorry!” I hurriedly grasped the towel and moved to get off the very unamused looking Atlas. I barely covered myself and scurried to a corner of the spacious bath to cower in mortified shame and embarrassment. Atlas looked at me completely exasperated as half his face remained below the surface, then quickly looked away.

“You gonna do something with that towel or you gonna pretend to be a bathhouse lady?” His head now fully above the water, I could see his cheeks turning a bit red. I stared at him agape for a minute while my brain argued with itself as to whether the water caused his red cheeks or he was blushing. Atlas Molniya absolutely doesn’t blush. Can we make Atlas Molniya blush? I’m certainly willing to try!

“Since you’re already all wet…”I smiled awkwardly at Atlas hoping the heat of the water would explain away my red cheeks too.

“Do you know where we are…?” There was a dangerous lilt to his voice that completely threw me off.

“In… a… bathtub…?” I was pretty sure that wasn’t the answer he was looking for but the look he was giving me made it REALLY hard to think straight. The only thing louder than my racing heart was the slow slosh of the water every time he moved closer.

“We’re in an underworld bathhouse… You do know what kinds of things happen in underworld bathhouses, right?”

“I’m… guessing more than just nice, relaxing baths?” It was more a squeak than anything.

“So much more…”

He was so close now I would have been able to feel his breath if it weren’t for the steam rising from the water. “TOO CLOSE!” I thrust out my hand and connected with his forehead

“Finally starting to understand the completely ridiculous situation we’ve managed to get ourselves in?” Atlas was back, but he still looked off.

“Well yes… But… Are you feeling all right?” I tried to sound more concerned than nervous but the shark in the water routine had been a bit much. In fact, I was feeling a little dizzy between my racing heart and the hot water.

“Never better. Why?” He stood up as he said this and immediately started wobbling. “Ok, maybe not…” He managed to get half way down again before he passed out… right on top of me…

“Oh, stars…”

Somehow I managed to get us both out of the bath and on to the floor. I had to get him out of these soaking wet clothes. And well… that was… certainly… something…

“Please don’t wake up right now… Please don’t wake up right now.” Red-faced I fumbled with the fastener on Atlas’s pants, with my eyes closed. The same quiet prayer escaping my lips on repeat.

“Ya know, consent goes both ways.” An irritated voice muttered as a clammy hand grasped mine.

“Oh stars! It wasn’t like that!” I feel as though my face got even redder at that moment. “I just thought if I couldn’t get you into the bed I could at least get most of your wet clothes off!” I huffed and turned away pouting.

“Uh huh…” I couldn’t tell if he was teasing me or truly skeptical of my motives.

“Are you feeling any better than that you’re out of the hot water?”

“Yeah.” Without saying much else he got to his feet, soggy shirt in hand.

“Uh…”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for this day to be over.”

“Oh…” I tried to hide my disappointment. It had been a really long day after all, what with the being chased and shot at, harbored by some crazy old lady in the criminal underworld, bathtub shenanigans… I came to an immediate stop next to Atlas, coming to the same realization at about the same time.

“I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“Oh no! You just passed out! Take the bed and I’ll take the couch!”

“What kind of man would I be if I made a woman sleep on a couch when there’s a perfectly good bed?” He gave me a glare, but it was half-hearted at best.

“We could…” Oh stars… should I really say it?

“What? We could what?” Atlas flopped down on the couch and looked up at me.

“We could… just sleep together… in the bed… since there’s only one…”

His eyebrow quirked up ever so slightly. A blush started creeping up his neck. “I was trying to be a gentleman… But you’re making it real damn hard, I hope you’re aware of that.”

“I just don’t want you to sleep on the couch if you aren’t well.”

“It’s hard to think you have anything but bad intentions when I wake up to you in nothing but a towel trying to take my pants off…”

Oh… that is not a good look for my heart… I watched as he push the button on the wall to turn off the lights.

“AH!”

“What? Do you really want to have sex with the lights on?” I could hear shuffling as he moved closer. “I lived with Jaxson long enough that I refuse to have sex with the lights on.”

That’s fair. Jaxson does seem like the type to just… burst in at random times…

“Well no... it’s just I didn’t think you’d actually take me up on it?” There was just enough light in the room for me to see him get close. “What about you passing out?”

“I had to carry you halfway across town while being shot at. I was just overheated from that is all.”

“Ugh… I really should go on a diet…”

“Why? You’re fine just as you are…” His cool fingers worked their way under the towel until they found the flesh of my sides and gave it a firm squeeze.

“Oh stars…” Before I knew what was happening I was in the bed.

“Tonight, let’s get some rest. Tomorrow, we can take our time…” Much like the name of his ship, there was so much promise in his voice.

“Uh… are you at least going to let me put some clothes on first?”

“Nope.”

“Oh… all right…” Unable to get up through the tangle of his body of mine, I opted to snuggle up next to him and fall asleep instead.

[occasionally-writing]

Silent Sunset

A/N: I’ve been gone most of the day trying to get myself to start writing. But I’ve been procrastinating with video games XD I’ve been addicted to Best Fiends lately >.> Anyways, here ya go anon! I hope you like the fic! :D

Summary: Pete and Kao have a quiet evening together, just enjoying each other’s presence while they relax by the pool and watch the sunset.

Word Count: 1029

It was a beautiful Saturday evening, the colors in the sky just beginning to fade and mix into many oranges, pinks and purples, the sun sinking in the horizon. Sitting on his deck as he stared up at the sky, Pete took in how some stars were just beginning to twinkle in the sky before the sound of the glass door sliding open behind him caught his attention, taking his thoughts away from the beautiful surroundings around him. Letting his eyes shift to the clear water of his pool, Pete didn’t say a word as Kao sat beside him, close enough to where their thighs were touching and his boyfriend laid his head on his shoulder. Reaching around Kao, Pete wrapped his arm around his waist and held him close, both their gazes watching as the water sparkled in the leftover sunlight. Slipping his feet in the pool, Pete waved his legs back and forth as Kao observed the ripples his boyfriend was making.

“Is anything on your mind? You usually don’t come here without saying anything or initiating cuddles...I mean you’re getting better but not this better,” Pete joked, letting his voice stay soft like he was afraid that speaking any louder would break the peaceful atmosphere they had going. Letting out a small hum as he thumped his head against Pete’s shoulder again, Kao continued to gaze at the waves Pete’s feet were making before he shook his head, making Pete frown at how silent Kao was being. Originally, Kao wasn’t too much of a talker but ever since they got back together and vowed that they would be better boyfriends to each other, Kao had opened up a lot. Now, however, it seemed like the progress his boyfriend made was nonexistent and he had built his walls again. “Kao, talk to me. What’s going on in that mind of yours?”

“I’m okay, Pete. It’s just been a long day and my social battery has run dry. I just don’t really have the energy to keep a conversation up for very long...I hope that’s okay,” Kao mumbled, closing his eyes as he squirmed closer to Pete, burying his face in his neck as Pete allowed him to practically climb in his lap just so he could lay against his chest. Taking in the comforting scent of Pete’s cologne and a smell that was just his boyfriend, Kao felt all the tension he had throughout the day melt away, leaving a sluggish shell of how he had woken up that morning. Nodding softly, Pete brushed his fingers through Kao’s hair and gently nudged his feet in the pool. Noticing that the pool’s heater was on, making the water nice and warm, Kao sighed out in contentment and pressed a small kiss to Pete’s neck. “I’m sorry I worried you…”

Shaking his head, Pete shushed Kao and just pressed a kiss to his hair, letting the silence they had going earlier return as they just took in the feeling of them just being together. Rubbing Kao’s back softly, Pete stopped kicking his feet in the pool and just let them settle, moving his gaze back up to the sky as more stars began to make their appearance and the beautiful sunset colors from earlier were beginning to fade to the purple and dark blues of the night sky. By the time Kao finally moved the sky had grown dark and the lights that were attached to the porch were on, lighting the area around them so they weren’t bathed in complete darkness. Pulling away slightly, Kao intertwined his and Pete’s hands and stared at the sky, observing all the shining stars. Staring at Kao, Pete felt a smile rise on his face as he noticed how Kao’s eyes seemed so sparkle like the stars before he glanced away from them and faced Pete, noticing that he was being stared at.

“It’s late...do you want to take a shower and sleep?” Pete asked, rubbing his thumb across Kao’s knuckles affectionately. If he was being honest, the idea of a shower and falling asleep cuddled up to Pete sounded like Heaven to Kao, so with a nod, Kao watched as Pete stood up and held out his hand, waiting for Kao to take it. Letting Pete help him up, Kao waited until Pete was turned around before he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s waist, Pete’s back pressed firmly against his chest. Pausing as he felt the embrace, Pete turned his head a bit so he could look at Kao before a soft kiss was suddenly pressed against his lips. Returning it briefly, Pete turned around in Kao’s hold and cupped his cheeks, letting their lips touch again as the soft kiss from earlier turned into something more firm yet not heated. Pulling away, Pete pressed a kiss to Kao’s nose and grinned. “What was that for?”

“I just wanted to...you’re so warm, Pete…” Kao whispered, letting his hands land on Pete’s waist as he felt the comfortable heat his boyfriend’s body was giving off. Letting out a chuckle, Pete shook his head and pressed more kisses around Kao’s face, smirking when Kao whined and tried to squirm away, a smile still sliding on his face even though he complained about the affection attack. Pressing one last kiss to Kao’s lips, Pete intertwined their hands and pulled Kao back in the house, both of them trying to stay quiet so that they didn’t wake up Pete’s Dad. “Are we going to shower together? I...don’t really want to be without you, Pete.”

Turning around slightly so he could look Kao in the eyes, Pete gave him a mischievous smirk, which only meant that Kao knew that he wasn’t going to shower alone and Pete was going to do things to him that would require him to keep quiet the best he could since they weren’t the only ones in the house. Rolling his eyes at the look, Kao allowed Pete to continue pulling him, staring down at their bare feet as they trailed up the stairs, a small smile appearing on his flushed face.

[juliussneezerfics]

His Past, His Present, His Future - Chapter 10: Mario Kart

Germany and Italy have an... interesting interaction. Japan, realizing his friends are useless, knows something is up.

Fanfiction.net

Ao3

REVIEWS ARE ALL THAT KEEP ME GOING RIGHT NOW, PLEASE FEED ME. XD

********************

They jogged up to the Pantheon, Germany slowing as he came closer to the majestic front.

“What does that say?” He asked.

Italy followed his gaze. “Hmm? Oh! It says: ‘Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, Consul for the first time built this’. It’s not true, though.” 

“Why do you say that?” The two climbed the steps side-by-side.

“Well, the very first temple to the Gods was burned a while before this pantheon. The builder of that temple died a long time ago. So when this one was built, the text from the original pantheon was put on this one to honor Marcus Agrippa.”

They passed through the giant bronze gates, Germany musing that the attraction was a feat of remarkable architecture. The air inside the building was slightly cooler than that of the air outside. Not air conditioned, of course, but a combination of the cool stone walls, tiled floor, and shade from the sun made the room relaxing to step into. Germany was glad for the shade. He was desperately hoping that he hadn't burned at all in the hot sun.

His thoughts were whisked away from him when the short hallway opened up to the giant domed room. The room was impossibly large and impossibly empty. Larger even than he had originally anticipated. Everything in the room was beautiful. The floor was pure marble, the different colors cut into perfect squares and inlaid in the ground, the shades of the marble shocking against the white tiles. Around them were columns holding up the doorways and a long, golden ridge that encircled the room. Above the golden ridge were squares. Ones of tan were dispersed between cubes cut into the wall, framed by detailed scrolling marble. Another golden ridge above was framing them.

The entire space was too much to process, Germany’s eyes darting to search for a new detail as soon as he was able to spot one. His attention was soon focused on the dome, however. Squares were cut into the dome, bending with the curvature of the roof as it rose up, encasing the room in an almost dizzying array of detail. Entirely unsupported. Germany hadn’t even realized he had walked to the middle of the room until he found himself bathed in the golden light shining from the hole in the top of the ceiling. He looked up briefly before returning his gaze to the wall, circling as he took in the details. His mouth agape, it split into a slight smile as he marveled at the beauty of the building. An entirely unsupported dome this big... an architectural marvel back then, but no less of one in present time. As he finished his circle, he found it within himself to speak.

“Italy... this is...” He stopped as his eyes stopped on Italy.

Italy was staring at him, his mouth slightly agape, his eyes filled with some unnameable emotion.

Germany was entranced by Italy’s gaze, astounded by the intensity behind it. His thoughts quietened as he returned it.

Slowly, Italy stepped forward. It seemed like there was an eternity between the time Italy left his spot, and the time it took for him to near Germany. But the entire time, they held their gaze. Anything could have happened in that span of time. Someone could have entered the room. Someone could shout. The building could collapse around them. But their focuses were entirely on each other. Alone, in an empty piece of history. Italy was about two feet in front of him now, his gait slowing as he was two feet away. He finally stopped as they were toe to toe. Germany’s heart was pounding furiously as he felt Italy’s graceful, slim fingers graze his arm and slip slowly down. Automatically, the two of them leaned forward. He wasn't thinking. He couldn't find it within himself to think. All there was was the two of them. Germany felt Italy’s fingers close on his wrist. He angled his head. Italy was so close. Their eyes were almost closed-

A blaring siren echoed around the atrium, the domed ceiling amplifying the sound.

Startled, the two leapt apart.

Germany’s mind reeled. Was that a hurricane warning or something? Perhaps a storm? A fire engine? Then, his heart stopped as he remembered setting that alarm earlier that afternoon after the colosseum. “Scheiße.” He muttered, pulling his phone out of his pocket and silencing the alert. He stared down at his phone a moment longer before he raised his phone screen to Italy, looking at the floor. He could feel his face, neck, and ears heat up with what was likely an intense blush. He refused to make eye contact out of embarrassment. What just happened? “We- we should head back to the car.”

Germany heard the echo of voices as a group of people entered the Pantheon. A group of people who had no idea what had just transpired. Who couldn’t feel the tense air of... whatever was in this room. Not waiting for an answer from Italy, he brushed past him and left the building. He had to get out of there. He needed- he needed a moment to collect himself. He needed to walk back to the car and drive with the windows down. Let the rushing of the wind silence the thoughts in his head. Or perhaps encourage them. He didn’t know. He couldn’t think. By the time he was down the steps, he felt Italy’s presence next to him.

The walk back to the car didn’t have amiable chatter like many that day had. There wasn’t even that comfortable silence that people often had when walking next to each other. All there was was empty silence. A question of: what the hell just happened Hanging on both of their tongues but refusing to come out. The walk led to the car, which led to driving back down the very streets they had driven on to get into the city. The windows were down, but Italy hadn’t been bold enough to plug the AUX chord in his phone, so Germany just turned on the radio. The songs were dispersed with radio ads he couldn’t understand.

In his periphery, Germany saw Italy’s tan hand dial back the volume on the radio. For a moment, he was concerned that Italy would try and talk about... whatever had taken place. Germany’s thoughts hadn’t even began to sort themselves out enough for him to understand, let alone discuss.

“There’s a place up here where we can get food for Japan.” Italy said, his voice unusually level.

Germany couldn’t bring himself to look at Italy still. “The one with the tables over there?” There was a pause in which Germany was sure Italy nodded.

“Yes. The one with the green umbrellas.”

Germany slid into a parking spot. “Why don’t you go in and get the food, and I’ll wait out here in the car?” There was a period of silence when Germany was certain Italy was going to protest.

“Okay. I’ll be out soon, Germany.”

Germany nodded. He heard the car door open then close. He waited a moment during which he was sure Italy had disappeared in the restaurant. With a pathetic grunt, he let his forehead fall against the steering wheel. The horn blared, but that didn’t stop him from letting his head hit the horn once, twice, three times. He sat up again. If only he hadn’t set that damned alarm... What would have happened then, though? They would have kissed, probably. But then what? Would they be in a relationship, or would Italy say that it was a mistake, or- or maybe he was trying to see if kissing him would spark memories of Holy Rome. He shook his head. No... Italy could never be that cruel. Not after all he did to protect Germany from his past. Fine, then. His subconscious sneered. He probably thinks it was a mistake. His glare loosened into a worried frown. Was it? Because Germany knew he hadn’t gone into it with anything other than pure... affection. But what could be said of Italy? He could often get swept away in his emotions and desires. Maybe it was a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing. Maybe-

The door opening startled him out of his reverie. He stared forward as Italy ducked into the car, setting the bags of fragrant food in the backseat.

Germany pulled into the street as Italy buckled his seatbelt. He didn’t think he could stand any more silence. “Do you want to turn on some music?” He asked.

Italy looked over, unabashedly studying him. “Do you want to choose?”

Germany shook his head. “No.”

Silence prevailed as Germany rolled up the windows and Italy scrolled through his music. Perhaps it started, perhaps it didn’t. Germany was unaware of anything except his thoughts, and the road ahead of him. Prussia said before that Germany could draw himself within his own mind, focusing all his attention on solving problems or getting work done. Or, in this case, sorting his emotions out. It seemed like an eternity had passed by the time they pulled into Italy’s driveway. Japan’s sleek silver car was already sitting there.

“I wonder how long he’s been here.” Italy said.

Germany grunted.

“Maybe he won’t even be hungry...”

Germany pulled into a park. “I can help you carry those in.”

“Okay.”

Germany continued to avoid eye contact as he reached in the back and grabbed all the bags. He continued to avoid Italy’s surprised look as Italy noticed there were no bags left for him to carry. He especially refused to notice how close the two were to each other as they climbed the steps up to his house. The door was unlocked, so Italy opened the door for Germany. He brushed past Italy, thumping through the hallway in his boots and setting the groceries on the counter. “Japan?” He called. He heard stirring on the couch and looked over to see Japan sit up.  

Japan peered over the back of the couch at Germany. “Oh, Germany. Hello. Sorry I didn’t greet you, I seem to have fallen asleep on the sofa.”

“Hi, Japan!” Italy greeted. To anyone who didn’t know him as well as Germany and Japan did, they would say that Italy was his usual peppy self. But Germany and Japan knew Italy, and they knew that something was wrong. The only difference was that Germany knew the reason why.

Though Japan had a concerned frown on his face momentarily, he wiped it off to bow to Italy. “Hello, Italy.”

Italy returned the bow, smiling. “What time did you get here?”

“I got here a few hours after our video chat.”

“Oh, good! So you haven’t been here long! Are you hungry?”

Japan nodded. “After my nap, I am.”

“Great! We brought back lots of good food!”

The three of them sat down at the table after Germany quickly set the table, passing the takeout containers between the three of them. Germany noticed the distinctly stiff, awkward atmosphere at the table. He tried to think of something to say.

“This is good.” Really? ‘This is good’?

Italy nodded. “It’s from one of my favorite restaurants.”

Silence prevailed again.

Japan glanced between them through his glasses, obviously trying to discern what was going on. Eventually, he appeared to have decided to try and get more clues. “So, where did you go today?”

“Well we went to the colosseum, as you could see!” Italy said, brightening slightly. “Afterword, I was super hungry! But I didn’t want any of Germany’s disgusting protein bars.”

“They’re not disgusting, they’re healthy.” Germany protested, looking at Italy for the first time that evening. It was a short, quick glance. But it was eye contact nonetheless.

Italy shrugged with manufactured ease. “There’s no difference, really.”

“Because Italy’s so picky, we went to a nearby cafe. He ordered six desserts. Seven, if you count mine.”

Japan nodded, seemingly unsurprised. “He did that when the two of us went on vacation, too. And he refused to let you pay?”

“Of course.”

Italy leaned against his hand. “But weren’t they delicious?”

Germany returned his gaze. “Ja, they were.”

Italy straightened. “See? It was worth it!”

Germany smiled. For a moment, everything almost seemed normal.

The food on their plates slowly disappeared as Japan heard about the rest of their day. By the time they were done, everyone was equally stuffed. Germany could have gone for a nap. Far too much happened today. Far too many emotions and serious talks. What was up with those these past couple days? Hardly an hour could pass without some sappy heartfelt moment.

Italy, however, looked as energetic as ever. “Do you guys want to play a video game?”

Germany’s immediate answer was a ‘no’, but Japan straightened up slightly.

“That sounds fun,” was his only answer.

“Great! I have a Wii!” Italy said, clamoring out of his seat and scampering to the living room.

“You go join him. I’ll clean up from dinner.” Germany offered.

Japan raised an eyebrow. “You want to avoid video games that much?”

Germany nodded. “Are you surprised?”

“Not at all.” Japan answered with a slight smile. “Thank you, Germany.”

Germany nodded, standing and collecting plates.

Japan left his seat, taking a couple steps toward the living room before doing a half-turn. “Oh, and Germany?”

“Hmm?” Germany looked up.

“Can we talk later?”

“... Okay.”

Japan nodded and left.

Germany furrowed his brow. He wondered how much they were going to talk about. Whether it would be about Holy Rome or him and Italy... perhaps both. Either way, both options terrified him. He finished cleaning, his head occupied with so many thoughts that he felt like he would burst. He was about to start washing the dishes when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Quizzically, he pulled it out of his pocket. A text from his brother. Prussia never texted. He always preferred to call. He opened the text, frowning as he read.

 Have you seen Italy’s latest Instagram post

Germany was about to reply ‘no’ when another text came through.

 Cause....... youll see i guess

Before Germany could even decipher what that meant, he got a notification from Instagram. News that Italy had tagged him in a post. Fearing the worst, he opened the notification. He could see that it was a series of photos, the first being an aesthetic shot down an Italian street filled with buildings of multiple colors. He swiped to the next photos, seeing a few of pretty flowers they had passed on the street. The next was of their table at the cafe, laden with delicious and lovely desserts. Germany stopped as he saw a side profile photo of him from when he was reading on the bench. He blushed slightly as he saw this, but was otherwise unbothered. It was just a photo. What followed was a photo of the great stone mask with Italy’s hand inside. Germany smiled to himself as he remembered how he scared Italy. His smile was wiped off his face, however, as he was confronted with a photo of himself.

To clarify, it was a photo of him... laughing. The photo was taken as Germany was straightening up, his shoulders raised slightly with his laughter. The heat had caused a couple strands of hair to come unstuck from the gel, hanging down from his hairline. His mouth was split open mid-laugh, and his eyes were shut. So that’s why he hadn’t noticed Italy taking a photo. He stared at himself quizzically. So this was what he looked like laughing. Ugh. His face blotched red as he remembered it was on Instagram. The photo was on Instagram! Germany scrolled up to the top to see how many followers Italy had. He shook his head as the panic mounted. Italy had consistently been one of the top Instagrammers for months now, his profile filled with aesthetic pictures and photos of food. Most of his followers were there, though, for the occasional photo he posted when he was dressed in a nice outfit.

Frantically, Germany scrolled back down to the photos. He blanched at the amount of likes. There were thousands... He looked down at the photo’s description: When in Rome... Seeing the top comments, he knew it was already too late to have Italy delete the photos. A strange requirement of nations was that they had to follow each others’ social media pages and have notifications on for them. Their bosses figured it was a good way not only to connect with their people, but to connect with each other and encourage diplomacy. And he saw that the other nations’ comments and likes were already there.

 Official_USA: Whoa, dude! It’s good to see you guys having a good time!

HungarysInstagram: You have a lovely smile, Germany! 😊

Under Hungary’s comment, there was a long thread of 69 comments, talking about various things from how nice Germany’s smile was, to how he looked less scary when he was laughing, to a couple... weird ones. Germany cringed and shook his head. It struck him dumb that there were fangirls who were attracted to goddamn countries.

 Prussias_Not_Ded: Have a fun time broha

The rest of the comments were from Italy’s followers, talking about how lovely the photos were, complaining that there weren’t any photos of Italy there, the regular sort of mixture. Germany turned off his phone, sliding it back in his pocket. “Italy!” He barked.

“Uh-oh.” Japan muttered from the couch. “I told you he would be mad.”

Italy half-turned, his picture the face of innocence. “Yes, Germany?”

“Why did you upload that picture?!”

Italy rubbed the back of his head. “Well, I suppose food pictures are cliche, but the cafe had nice lighting and-”

“You know what photo I’m talking about, Italy! The one where I was laughing!”

“Oh, that!” Italy acted as if he just realized.

Japan sent Italy a level look, clearly not taking any of his shit.

Germany raised an eyebrow of exasperation, waiting for whatever half-baked excuse Italy had.

“I thought you looked nice in it!”

Okay, Germany wasn’t expecting complete honesty.

“I can take it down if you want, though.”

Germany sighed, brushing a hand over his slicked-back hair. “The damage is already done. It would just be embarrassing if you took it down now.”

“Good! It’s a pretty picture.” Italy said.

Much to his dismay, Germany could feel his damned blush coming back. If he had a deutschmark for every time he had blushed these past couple days... he couldn’t imagine how many cats he could get from Arby’s.

“Anyway, people think you’re scary sometimes!” Italy forged on, apparently not noticing. “I did too when I first met you, you know!”

Japan nodded in agreement. “That is part of Germany’s reputation. You must remember, Germany. We have to be approachable, but respectable. To promote tourism and goodwill between nations. And you haven’t posted on your social media for weeks.”

Germany frowned, rounding the couch and sitting down. “I don’t feel the need to post. Surely people aren’t that interested in what I’m doing.”

Japan shook his head, pulling out his phone. “That isn’t exactly true, Germany.” He scrolled down, his glasses reflecting the photos passing on his screen. “You have ninety million followers, after all.”

Germany gave a half-shrug. “I just don’t understand it. What I do isn’t anyone else’s business.”

“But Germany, your people want to hear from you!” Italy protested. “Besides, your boss is going to get angry at you if you keep this up!”

“All you post is photos of your dogs.” Japan added.

“Photos of dogs have merit!” Germany protested, craning his neck to see Japan’s phone. “Blackie is extremely photogenic.”

Italy peered up at Germany through half-lidded eyes. “Ah, but your followers want to see more of you!” He let a short laugh escape. “Especially the girls...”

“Can we end this conversation yet?” Germany grumbled.

Italy chuckled. “Aww, I’m just teasing, Germany!” He wrapped an arm around Germany and Japan, both of them making noises of protest. “We’re all friends here!”

“Reluctantly so.” Germany responded, feeling as if Italy’s touch was burning against his skin.

Italy released them, snatching a Wii steering wheel off of the coffee table. “So, are you guys ready to lose?”

“I regret to inform you that Mario Kart is my best game.” Japan said, grabbing his steering wheel off the table as well.

“Italy,” Germany leaned forward here and collected his. “You can’t even drive a bumper car correctly. You endanger yourself and others when driving a real car. Forgive me if I don’t believe you.”

Italy started the game. They all went through setup, choosing their cars and characters. Italy went with Mario, Japan selected Toad, and Germany chose Dry Bowser. All three of them decided on bikes. Germany chose for handling, Japan for speed, and Italy chose the sugar scoot because he liked the name.

The three raced through the desert, the room surprisingly quiet as they concentrated on their driving. Through the entire race, they were all driving extremely close to each other, all three of them vying to make it through narrow doorways. The final lap. The paramount of the action. The epitome of hard work and stress. They had made it through the entire race beside each other, each trying desperately and failing to get the upper hand. They were within a hundred virtual feet of the finish line, neck and neck. All three of their eyes widened as sirens sounded, the icons at the bottom of the screen alerting them that a blue shell was hurtling toward them. Almost in complete synchrony, Germany and Italy fell back until they were barely off the perimeter of the explosion.

Japan wasn’t so lucky.

“No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no...” His voice steadily grew in volume as it approached, reaching its apex as Toad exploded. “FUCKING GOD.” Japan shouted at the top of his voice as Italy and Germany passed the finish line. “SON OF A BITCH!”

As the game’s cheery tune started, Germany and Italy looked at each other in shock before peering over at their friend.

Japan’s hands had flown to his mouth, his eyes flared wide open as he realized what he said.

Germany doubled over in laughter. He could hear Italy’s high-pitched giggles beside him, fueling the mirth he felt. The two were engaged in barking, full-bellied laughter. Every time Germany thought he was done laughing, he heard the mental echo of Japan’s usually serene voice cussing like a sailor and he was washed anew with laughter. By the time Germany could straighten up with a sigh, he looked over and noticed Italy had tears in his eyes. Looking across Italy, Germany could see Japan studying them with an embarrassed blush across his face, and a regretful smile. “What is it?” Germany asked with a slight chuckle.

“I.. apologize, my anger ran away with me.” Japan apologized.

Germany snorted, his laughter starting all over again. Italy joined in before Japan finally giggled along with them.